Deck 3: Epigenetics and Disease

Question 1

An individual who has been diagnosed with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome is at risk of developing which condition?

A) Cancer
B) Diabetes
C) Asthma
D) Food allergies

Answer 1

Cancer

Question 2

Which stage of human development is not associated with the potential for epigenetic changes to occur?

A) Childhood
B) Adolescence
C) In utero
D) Rapid increases in growth

Answer 2

Rapid increases in growth

Question 3

What condition might result from mutations in the encoding of histone-modifying proteins?

A) Cleft palate
B) Acephalous
C) Congenital heart disease
D) Webbed digits

Answer 3

Congenital heart disease

Question 4

When considering abnormal epigenetic modifications, what factor is currently being viewed as strongly associated with the development of some cancers?

A) Family genetics
B) Lifestyle choices
C) Environmental stressors
D) Emotional coping skills

Question 5

Housekeeping genes are vital to the function and maintenance of all the body's cells. What characteristic is associated with these genes?

A) They lack encoding histones.
B) They are transcriptionally active.
C) Ribosomal RNA genes are absent.
D) Epigenetic silencing has occurred.

Question 6

How does inactive MLH1 contribute to the development of some forms of inherited colon cancer?

A) It results in the deletion of a nucleotide repeat in the DUX4 gene.
B) DNA damage is left unrepaired.
C) There is an expansion in the number of cytosine-guanine (CG) dinucleotide.
D) Downregulation of IGF2 occurs.

Question 7

What characteristic is typical of both Prader-Willi syndrome and Angelman syndrome?

A) Obesity
B) Seizures
C) Bouts of uncontrollable laughter
D) Intellectual disability

Question 8

Which of the following is known to impair the ability for neural stem cells to differentiate into functional neurons?

A) Ethanol
B) Marijuana
C) Insufficient nutrients
D) Poor oxygenation

Question 9

What does it mean for an embryonic cell to be totipotent?

A) It has the ability to differentiate into any type of somatic cell.
B) It is able to repair its own damaged DNA.
C) It has the capacity to determine which parental chromosome copy it will imprint.
D) It is able to minimize the impact of poor in utero nutrition.

Question 10

Screening tools that are epigenetically based have shown promise in diagnosing which types of cancer? (Select all that apply.)

A) Colon
B) Breast
C) Skin
D) Bladder
E) Prostate

Question 11

Research has provided support for the theory that epigenetic modifications can result from deficient in utero nutrition causing which chronic disease? (Select all that apply.)

A) Obesity
B) Asthma
C) Cardiovascular disease
D) Diabetes
E) Crohn's disease