Focusing Packet
PROCESS - Listing Symptoms and Signs: The Doctor
WebMD site:
1.
How many possible conditions could be causing Johnny’s symptoms?
Test Results Questions:
2. What ways do Johnny’s test results differ from a health boy of the same age?
Hemoglobin website:
3. Why is hemoglobin important for a person’s survival?
4. Briefly describe the structure of hemoglobin in children and adults.
5. What is the medical term to describe a low level of hemoglobin.
6. Based on what you have learned about Johnny, what conditions could be causing his anemia?
Vitamin B12 link
7. What is the medical term for compounds that contain vitamin B-12?
8. Why is vitamin B-12 necessary for the production of red blood cells (detailed)?
9. How is Vitamin B-12 absorbed into the body?
10. What is pernicious anemia AND what causes it?
11. What food sources could be consumed to increase vitamin B12 uptake?
12. If there is a vitamin B-12 deficiency, how can supplements be given?
Vitamin B-12 Absorption
13. What is an intrinsic factor and how is it related to vitamin B-12?
14. What happens to the vitamin B-12 if intrinsic factor is not present?
15. Why does a vitamin B-12 deficiency resulting in anemia cause a person to feel tired?
Evaluation - Identifying and Analyzing Problem Genes: The Team
1. After reviewing Johnny’s microarray excel file, what region on the entire genome does your team
hypothesize contains the problem gene? Why?
2. After carefully analyzing the BLAST results, is there a problem with John’s gene? If so, what is it?
AND where is it found?
Conclusion - Treating the Patient's Disorder: The Team
Doctor’s Questions:
1.
How does Johnny compare with other recorded clinical cases of the disorder?
2. Use your answer in #1 to explain why the process of diagnosing Johnny took so long.
PROCESS - Surveying and Sequencing DNA: The Geneticist
Amplify DNA website:
1. What are the 3 main steps in the PCR process?
2. How does heating the DNA sample to very high temperatures cause the DNA to denature AND why
is this necessary to make a copy of the DNA?
3. What materials are necessary to make copies of the DNA AND why are each of the materials
necessary?
Making a Gene Chip video and animation:
4. Describe the process by which the sequences on a gene chip are actually made.
Running a Microarray:
5. Besides microarrays being used to compare what genes are being expressed in two different cells
(like cancer and a healthy cell), how else could the microarray be utilized when only one sample of DNA
such as Johnny’s is used?
6. How could the microarray process determine whether someone is homozygous or heterozygous for a
gene?
Importance of Homozygosity:
7. Why as a geneticist are you interested in areas of homozygosity in Johnny’s genome?
Interpretting Microarray Excel File:
8. What colors are of interest to you to determine areas of homozygosity in Johnny’s genome?
Sequencing Johnny’s Gene Animation:
9. What five things are needed to sequence Johnny’s problem gene?
10. Why are the dideoxy (special) nucleotides necessary for sequencing a gene?
11. Why is gel electrophoresis necessary for DNA sequencing?
12. Which way is the gel read (top to bottom or bottom to top)? Use the process of electrophoresis to
explain why you would read in this direction.
Evaluation - Identifying and Analyzing Problem Genes: The Team
1. After reviewing Johnny’s microarray excel file, what region on the entire genome does your team
hypothesize contains the problem gene? Why?
2. After carefully analyzing the BLAST results, is there a problem with Johnny’s gene? If so, what is it?
AND where is it found?
Conclusion - Treating the Patient's Disorder: The Team
Geneticist’s Questions:
1.
What role does the gene of interest play? AND what happens when the gene is mutated?
2. Why is the homozygous recessive disorder considered a paradox when comparing the effects of
the disorder in humans and mice?