Deck 19: Applications and Ethics of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

Question 1

List the general genetic requirements and guidelines for gene therapy.

Answer 1

The gene must be available for cloning,there must be an effective means of transferring the gene,target tissue must be accessible,and no other effective therapy can be available.

Question 2

Briefly describe what is meant by gene therapy.

Answer 2

Gene therapy transfers a normal allele into a somatic cell that carries one or more mutant alleles.

Question 3

A DNA microarray (also called a DNA chip)can be used to ________.

A)mutate genes of interest
B)isolate genes from eukaryotic cell nuclei
C)assay protein output from a genomic database
D)trap genes that are both active and inactive
E)scan a population of nucleic acids for abundance and mutations

Answer 3

E

Question 4

How is a microarray used to scan for mutations in a genome?

Question 5

Generally,vaccines are used to stimulate the immune system by providing antigens of potential pathogens.What is the typical composition of a vaccine?

Question 6

Which term is commonly used to describe the production of valuable proteins in genetically modified plants and animals?

A)aniplafarming
B)faunafarming
C)biopharming
D)culturing
E)genetiproduction

Question 7

Which of the following characteristics do SNPs have?

A)variable amino acid substitutions,highly heterogeneous
B)variable numbers of tandem repeats,highly uniform in the population
C)variable base sequences,variable in the population
D)various nucleotides transcribed repeatedly,homogeneous
E)small noteworthy transcribed regions,lethal genes

Question 8

Prenatal detection of human diseases has been greatly enhanced by two procedures.Name and briefly describe each.

Question 9

What is an allele-specific oligonucleotide?

Question 10

The transfer of genes into somatic cells is called ________,whereas the transfer of genes into the germ line is called ________; ________ is a form of therapy in which human potential can be enhanced for some desired trait.

Question 11

The first person to receive gene therapy was a young girl with adenosine deaminase (ADA)deficiency.Outline the therapeutic steps involved.

Question 12

Once DNA is separated on a gel,it is often desirable to gain some idea of its informational content.How might this be done?

Question 13

Describe the structure of a DNA microarray and its use.

Question 14

Name at least three applications for examining sequence variants such as RFLPs.

Question 15

What makes "golden rice" golden?

Question 16

Briefly describe what is meant by the term edible vaccine.

Question 17

Many instances involving genetically modified organisms,especially food crops,will be entering the human food chain in the years to come.On what basis are genetically modified foods considered safe to eat?

A)They are only slightly toxic.
B)All products to be cleared for human consumption have been personally tested by all members of the regulatory agency.
C)Because of the possible economic impact of rigorous testing,such food products are minimally tested in sheep and cattle.
D)Each genetically modified food product is screened for its resistance to antibiotics.
E)Genetically modified food products are considered safe if they are found to be not toxic or allergenic or have other negative physiological effects.

Question 18

A term often used to describe an organism that is a genetic mosaic,resulting from the introduction of DNA from another organism,is ________.

Question 19

RFLPs are commonly used in recombinant DNA technology to ________.

A)cleave DNA of interest
B)generate pharmaceutical products of interest
C)serve as recombinant DNA vectors
D)map genes and construct DNA fingerprints
E)substitute for oligonucleotides

Question 20

Under strictly controlled conditions,a probe can be used that will hybridize only with its complementary sequence and not with other sequences that may vary by as little as one nucleotide.What are such probes called?

A)generation-specific probes
B)short,variable repeats
C)VNTRs
D)microsatellites
E)allele-specific oligonucleotides (ASOs)

Question 21

How are gene therapy and recombinant DNA technology related?

Question 22

New methods of delivering vaccines are likely to be developed so that traditional injection will be less frequent.

Question 23

Gene therapy will probably be used predominantly for correcting germ-line mutations because fewer ethical issues are associated with that than with somatic cell gene therapy.

Question 24

Biotechnology has yet to produce a single useful product for a human health condition.

Question 25

Alleles that differ by as little as a single nucleotide can be distinguished by synthetic probes known as ________.

Question 26

An unapproved form of gene therapy,known as enhancement gene therapy,can create considerable ethical dilemmas.Why?

Question 27

Genes in their natural state cannot be patented.This policy allows research and use of natural products for the common good.What argument might be presented in favor of patenting genes or gene products?

Question 28

A restriction fragment is generated by the action of a restriction enzyme (endonuclease).

Question 29

Glyphosate (a herbicide)inhibits EPSP,a chloroplast enzyme involved in the synthesis of several amino acids.

Question 30

To generate glyphosate resistance in crop plants,a fusion gene was created that introduced a viral promoter to control the EPSP synthetase gene.

Question 31

Amniocentesis is preferred over chorionic villus sampling because recombinant DNA screening can be achieved with amniocentesis but not with chorionic villus sampling.

Question 32

The first attempts at gene therapy began in 1990 with the treatment of a young girl with a genetic disorder abbreviated SCID.What does SCID stand for? In the context of SCID,what does ADA stand for?

Question 33

Rational drug design involves the synthesis of specific chemical substances that affect specific gene products.

Question 34

Drosophila is a unique candidate for genetic engineering because it is the one prokaryote about which we have a great deal of genetic information.

Question 35

One of the problems associated with the generation of transgenic plants is that the ecological parameters of many plants are not completely understood.

Question 36

What is RNAi?

Question 37

The Human Genome Project seeks to rid the human population of genetic disease.