Nucleotides can be radiolabeled before they are incorporated into newly forming DNA and, therefore, can be assayed to track their incorporation. In a set of experiments, a student-faculty research team used labeled T nucleotides to study the incorporation of labeled nucleotides into a culture of lymphocytes. They found that the lymphocytes incorporated the labeled nucleotide at a significantly higher level after a pathogen was introduced into the culture. What might they conclude from this observation?
A) The pathogen consumed radiolabeled nucleotides.
B) Infection causes lymphocytes to divide more rapidly.
C) Infection causes lymphocytes to increase in size.
D) Infection causes lymphocyte cultures to skip some parts of the cell cycle.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The observation that lymphocytes incorporated labeled nucleotides at a significantly higher level after introducing a pathogen suggests that infection causes lymphocytes to divide more rapidly. Increased cell division is likely due to the immune response triggered by the pathogen, as the body tries to produce more immune cells to combat the infection.

Nucleotides Can Be Radiolabeled Before They Are Incorporated into Newly