Name ________________________________________ Date: _______________

Honors Biology Mr. Collea

Nova: Cracking the Code of Life

Directions: Please answer all questions in the space provided. The questions should be in movie order.

1. What percentage of our genes do we have in common with a banana? 50%

2. What does DNA look like to the naked eye?

Like threads of cotton.

3. What are the 4 chemicals that make up the ‘steps’ in the DNA ladder?

Adenine Thymine Cytosine Guanine

4. How many ‘steps’ are in the human genome?

3 Billion

5. Humans have 2x or twice as many genes as a fruit fly.

6. What percentage of the DNA is identical in all human babies? 99.9%

7. What is the Human Genome Project?

Project to determine the exact location of all the genes on the 23 pairs or 46 human chromosomes.

8. How long did they think it would take to complete the human genome? 15 years

9. How long did it take to find the gene that causes cystic fibrosis? 10 years

10. What percentage of DNA is active and important in our cells? 1%

11. What disease does Hayden have? Tay-Sachs

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12. What is Tay-Sachs disease and how does it affect a child’s development?

Tay-Sachs is a genetic disorder that slowly destroys a child’s brain.

13. How big is the mistake in the DNA code that causes Tay-Sachs? Just 1 wrong letter or base pair.

14. What molecule/protein does the mistake affect? A protein that breaks down fats in the brain.

15. Why don’t Hayden’s parents have the disease?

(You may want to set up a Punnett Square to help explain your answer.)

Because his parents are heterozygous or carriers.

16. What were the odds of Hayden inheriting this disease?

(You may want to set up a Punnett Square to help explain your answer.)

25%

17. What are the symptoms of Tay Sachs and what happens to someone with Tay Sachs disease?

Can’t walk, talk, eat, swallow and eventually you die from Tay-Sachs

18. Blythe is a carrier for Tay-Sachs. What does this mean?

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 He is heterozygous which means he only has one copy of the bad gene.

19. How do scientists hope to use the human genome project as an early warning system?

If they see the warning signs early enough, it could be stopped, treated or even cured.

20. How have computers helped scientists code the human genome?

By tagging the bases with colored dyes and then bouncing lasers off of them, computers can read
the letters or base sequence of the Human Genome much faster.

21. What process does Venter’s lab do that speeds up the process of mapping human DNA?

By tagging the bases with colored dyes and then bouncing lasers off of them, computers can read
the letters or base sequence of the Human Genome much faster.

22. What influenced Venter’s decision to map the human genome?

Surviving Vietnam gave him a new appreciation of life - he wanted to do something with this gift.

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23. Venter’s group said that they could sequence the whole human genome in 2 years, even though
the government planned to do it in 15 years.

24. How did Venter’s announcement affect how the government’s lab was sequencing human DNA?

It galvanized everyone to work harder and faster.

25. Whose genes were used for the human genome project?

A guy and girl from Buffalo – no one really knows.

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26. How does Dr. Lander compare human DNA to the similarity of chimpanzee DNA?
99% - Humans are more similar to chimps than chimps are to chimps.

27. Why are humans and chimpanzees genetic makeup so similar to each other?

We are both a relatively new or young species.

28. Are humans MORE or LESS closely related to other humans than chimps are to other chimps?

29. EVOLUTION – Explain why humans are so genetically similar?

Because we are such a new, young species, time has not allowed for the accumulation of random
changes in our DNA (mutations).

30. What percentage of human DNA is similar to a Banana? 50% How can this be?

We have plenty of the same proteins that are responsible for the cell cycle and burning energy as
bananas.

31. What percentage of the ubiquitin gene is the same in humans and yeast? 96%

32. What is ubiquitin?

Ubiquitin is a regulatory protein that controls the breakdown of other defective proteins.

33. How are genes being turned into private property?

By patenting them.
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34. How long does it take a patent office to process an application? 2 years

35. How many applications are waiting to be processed? 20,000

36. Why do research companies want patents?

To charge people/companies to use their genes and make money.

37. What are the advantages and disadvantages of patenting genes?

Advantages Disadvantages

38. What disease does 2 month old Riley have? Cystic Fibrosis

39. What organ does this disease affect the most? The lungs

40. What does cystic fibrosis, or CF, do?

CF clogs the lungs with mucus that can lead to life-threatening infections.

41. What year was the gene for CF discovered? 1989

42. “Genes create proteins and proteins create you.”

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43. How does the SHAPE of a protein define what it can do?

In the protein world, SHAPE determines FUNCTION.

44. How many base pairs (letters) are wrong with Riley’s DNA? 3

45. What does the healthy version of the cell membrane protein do?

Transports salt (Na/Cl) in and out of the cell.

46. What happens if the CF protein is not the right shape?

Salt (Cl) gets trapped in the cell making it sticky and covered in mucus.

47. How is Riley’s CF treated?

He back is patted 3 times a day to help loosen the mucus in her lungs.

48. How do scientists hope to help Riley?

By fixing her mis-shapened protein.

49. Why are scientists so interested in Tony’s CF case?

Even though she has CF, she didn’t get very sick as a baby and hasn’t died yet.

50. What do they think might be helping Tony?

Her genes may be making other proteins that are helping her survive CF.

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51. What do genes DO?

Genes make proteins.

52. What is the Human Genome (review)?

The sum total of all of the genes found in a human being.

53. What is the Human Proteome?

The sum total of all of the proteins needed to make a human being.

54. How many genes do people have? 30,000

55. Although we have only twice as many genes as a fruit fly, we are more than twice as complex.
How does the proteome explain this?

Complexity isn’t just determined by the number of genes. It’s what you do with these genes that
matters.

56. What did the scientists at Celera do to blow off steam?

Have Nerf wars.

57. Is competition a good or bad thing for business? Explain.

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 ____________________________________________________________________________________
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58. How do scientists find a specific gene?

They compare the DNA of someone who has the gene with the DNA of someone who doesn’t.

59. Why is Iceland the perfect place to look for genes causing disease?

Small population all descended from a common ancestor (the Vikings).

60. What was Decodes Genetics first project?

To look for the gene that causes osteoarthritis.

61. How many of Mrs. Magnusdottir’s siblings developed osteoarthritis? 11

62. What did deCode have to get from the Republic of Iceland to do their research?

Medical Records

63. Should your DNA be public or private? Why?

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64. What disease did Melanie have? Ovarian Cancer

65. What are the names of the 2 genes linked to breast cancer? BRCA1 BRCA2

66. Name and describe in detail the type of mutation that causes breast cancer?

A deletion mutation removing 2 bases (A and G) which causes the other bases to shift over.

67. What percentage of women who have the breast cancer genes actually develop breast cancer? 12%

68. What did the Doctor in GATTACA fix in the unborn child that made the parents uneasy?

Genes that did not code for any diseases.

69. When was the human genome project completed? June, 2000

70. What does it mean that the human genome is ‘lumpy’?

Uneven – Genes are not evenly distributed throughout the genome.

71. What is the remarkable thing about the Human Genome?

How little of it is actually gene.

72. What percent of the 3 billion letters that make up the Human Genome actually genes? 1.5%

73. What is 50% of the rest of the genome?

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Hitch-hiking pieces of DNA that has been traveling in our DNA since the beginning of life on our
planet.

Craig Venter

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