Gene knockdown is a procedure used to reduce gene expression in cells or organisms so that scientists can investigate gene function. While there are several ways to knock down gene expression, RNAi is one of the most commonly used approaches. Suppose that a research team wants to investigate where a new gene X is expressed in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Using RNAi, they obtained the results shown below examining the expression of gene X in four types of tissues.
-What can you conclude from these data?
A) Gene X is expressed equally in all four tissue types.
B) RNAi was effective only in nervous tissue.
C) Gene X likely encodes for a muscle protein.
D) RNAi does not work against gene X.

Question

Gene knockdown is a procedure used to reduce gene expression in cells or organisms so that scientists can investigate gene function. While there are several ways to knock down gene expression, RNAi is one of the most commonly used approaches. Suppose that a research team wants to investigate where a new gene X is expressed in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Using RNAi, they obtained the results shown below examining the expression of gene X in four types of tissues.
-What can you conclude from these data?
A) Gene X is expressed equally in all four tissue types. 
B) RNAi was effective only in nervous tissue. 
C) Gene X likely encodes for a muscle protein. 
D) RNAi does not work against gene X.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The data shows that RNAi was effective in reducing gene X expression in the nervous tissue, but not in the other three tissues. Therefore, we can conclude that gene X is likely expressed in nervous tissue. We cannot conclude whether gene X encodes for a muscle protein or not from these data, and we also cannot conclude that RNAi does not work against gene X since it was effective in one tissue type.

Gene Knockdown Is a Procedure Used to Reduce Gene Expression