BIOL113 Wednesday Night Final Exam Practice Set
Lectures 1-26
The final exam is cumulative! Study ALL practice sets, lecture notes, and previous exams.
The entirety of this exam is related to the following scenario. Check back often.
In healthy individuals, the ATP7B gene codes for the ‘copper-transporting ATPase 2 transport protein’
which transports copper ions out of liver cells and into bile. Thus, it facilitates elimination of excess
copper from the body. When mutated, atp7b (mutation denoted by lowercase italics) prevents proper
transport and elimination of copper ions, causing copper to accumulate in the body. This condition is
known as Wilson’s disease and without treatment it has devastating effects on the kidneys, liver, brain
and eyes.
1. Iris Smith’s three-year-old son, Tom, has just been diagnosed with Wilson’s disease. Iris wants to
know more about the disease. She googles the disease and the following links come up:
● Information page from the Centers for Disease Control
● Summary from Wikipedia
● Support group sponsored by a pediatric acupuncture organization
Which of these is the most trustworthy source of scientific information?
a) Information page from the Centers for Disease Control
b) Summary page from Wikipedia
c) Support group sponsored by a pediatric acupuncture organization
2. Iris has a friend from college who has a PhD/MD. Her friend sends her several peer reviewed
journal articles about Wilson’s disease. In one study, researchers hypothesized that the new drug
trientine would cause copper to be excreted from the body. Which of the following are
predictions the researchers could make from this hypothesis? SELECT ALL
a) Teenagers that were given 6mg of trientine daily would excrete a significantly higher
percentage of copper in their urine each day compared to before they started the drug.
b) Teenagers that were given 6mg of trientine daily would have significantly less copper
ions accumulated in samples of their liver bile compared to teenagers that were not taking
the drug.1
c) Teenagers that ingested trientine would increase their output of copper.
3. In another paper, researchers tested the effect of acupuncture on adults with Wilson’s disease. 50
adults were randomly selected and separated into two groups of 25. The experimental group
visited an acupuncture office and received 35 minutes of acupuncture treatment every day for 30
days. Which of the following is the most scientifically robust protocol for the negative control
group to do every day for 30 days?
a) Nothing.
b) Receive 35 minutes of acupuncture at home.
c) Visit an acupuncture office and receive 35 minutes of acupuncture.
d) Visit an acupuncture office and receive 35 minutes of fake acupuncture (needles do not
pierce the skin).
4. The following graph is depicted in the acupuncture paper. What can Iris conclude based on these
results?
a) Fail to reject the null hypothesis. The acupuncture treatment significantly increases daily
average output of copper.
b) Fail to reject the null hypothesis. The acupuncture treatment does not significantly
increase daily average output of copper.
c) Reject the null hypothesis. The acupuncture treatment significantly increases daily
average output of copper.
d) Reject the null hypothesis. The acupuncture treatment does not significantly increase
daily average output of copper.
5. Based on the graph depicted in the previous question, is standard error low or high for each
group? Would you expect increasing the sample size to have a dramatic effect on the results?
a) Standard error is high for each group. Increasing sample size would not have a dramatic
effect on the results.
b) Standard error is high for each group. Increasing sample size would have a dramatic
effect on the results.
c) Standard error is low for each group. Increasing sample size would not have a dramatic
effect on the results.
d) Standard error is low for each group. Increasing sample size would have a dramatic effect
on the results.
6. Iris reads a media article in the New York times that describes how CRISPR is being used to treat
genetic disease. She asks her friend if CRISPR could someday be used to cure Wilson’s disease.
For CRISPR to be a viable option for curing Wilson’s disease, which of the following must be
possible? SELECT ALL
a) The full sequence of the mutated atp7b gene must be known.
b) The full sequence of the normal ATP7B gene must be known.
c) Patients’ liver cells would have to be able to be removed and later reintroduced into the
body.
d) The STRs flanking either side of the mutated atp7b gene must be known.
7. Copper ions (Cu2+) must exit cells through a transport protein (copper-transporting ATPase 2
transport protein) because Cu2+
a) is repelled by the nonpolar tails of the phospholipids
b) is attracted to the nonpolar tails of the phospholipids
c) is repelled by the polar heads of the phospholipids
d) is attracted to the polar heads of the phospholipids
8. In healthy individuals, the copper-transporting ATPase 2 transport protein transports excess
copper from inside the liver into liver bile via primary active transport. Which of the following is
required for proper functioning of this type of membrane transport?
a) An electrochemical gradient
b) A lower concentration of copper in the bile
c) ATP
d) NADH
9. In healthy individuals, the copper-transporting ATPase 2 often affects the magnesium
cotransporter. As the copper-transporting ATPase 2 pumps CU2+ from inside liver cells into the
bile, CU2+ will sometimes move back down its concentration gradient through the magnesium
cotransporter along with magnesium ions (Mg2+). As this system operates, what will be the
concentration of Mg2+ inside the cell compared to the bile?
a) Higher Mg2+ inside the cell
b) Lower Mg2+ inside the cell
c) Equal Mg2+ between both inside and outside
10. In addition to transporting copper into the bile for the purposes of excretion, copper-transporting
ATPase 2 also plays a role in delivering copper to the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase. This
enzyme plays a role in cellular respiration in the mitochondria and is dependent upon copper to
function properly. When there isn’t enough copper in the vicinity, zinc will bind to cytochrome c
oxidase’s active site. What kind of inhibition is this?
a) Allosteric
b) Competitive
c) Phosphorylation
d) Cleavage of peptide bonds
11. Is the kind of inhibition described in the previous question reversible?
a) Yes
b) No
12. What will happen to the flow of electrons through the electron transport chain if cytochrome c
oxidase (Cyt c) is inhibited and can no longer perform oxidation?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Electrons will accumulate downstream of cyt c, not including cyt c
Electrons will accumulate downstream of cyt c and including cyt c
Electrons will accumulate upstream of cyt c, not including cyt c
Electrons will accumulate upstream of cyt c and including cyt c
13. How will the rate of the Krebs cycle be affected if cytochrome c oxidase (Cyt c) is inhibited and
can no longer perform oxidation?
a) It will slow down
b) It will speed up
c) Have no effect
14. The inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase causes a reduction of ATP in a cell. That cells attempts to
divide, but DNA polymerase Ᵹ becomes inhibited due to the lack of ATP. What will be the result
of DNA polymerase Ᵹ inhibition?
a) The resulting mRNA will have several point mutations.
b) The resulting amino acid chain will have several point mutations.
c) All daughter DNA will have some ribonucleotides instead of deoxyribonucleotides.
d) Only lagging strand daughter DNA will have some ribonucleotides instead of
deoxyribonucleotides.
15. Inside an epithelial cell that lines the liver, the copper-transporting ATPase 2 functions in the cell
membrane and the cytochrome c oxidase functions in the mitochondria. Epithelial cells will
transport nutrients between each other _________compared to mitochondria transporting
materials between each other.
a) Faster, because epithelial cells have more of a degree of difference between surface area
and volume.
b) Faster, because epithelial cells have less of a degree of difference between surface area
and volume.
c) Slower, because epithelial cells have more of a degree of difference between surface area
and volume.
d) Slower, because epithelial cells have less of a degree of difference between surface area
and volume.
16. Iris decides that she would like to have another child, but she wants to make sure that this child
does not inherit the mutated atp7b allele which causes Wilson’s disease. Iris and her partner do a
genetic test and find out that they each have one atp7b allele and one ATP7B allele. In addition,
one of Iris’ X chromosomes contains the recessive genetic mutation which causes red green
colorblindness (XAXa) and Iris is heterozygote for being flatfooted (F/f), the gene for which is
located right next to the ATP7B/atp7b gene on chromosome 13. Iris’ partner does not have these
other two mutations.
ATP7B/atp7b will most often be recombined with which gene?
a) F/f
b) XAXa
c) ATP7B/atp7b
17. Based on the genotypes described above, if they proceed to conceive without medical
intervention, what are the chances that their next child will have Wilson’s disease?
a) 1/4
b) 1/2
c) 3/16
d) 9/16
e) 1/16
18. Based on the genotypes described in the previous questions, if they proceed to conceive without
medical intervention, what are the chances that their next child will have Wilson’s disease and
will be red green color blind?
a) 1/4
b) 1/2
c) 3/16
d) 9/16
e) 1/16
19. Based on the notations we’ve learned in class and being used in this exam, which of the following
genotypes is a correct way to write out an individual having Wilson’s disease and red green color
blindness? SELECT ALL
a) ATP7B/atp7b XAXa
b) ATP7B/atp7b XAY
c) atp7b /atp7b XaY
d) atp7b /atp7b XaXa
20. Iris and her partner decide to pursue in vitro fertilization, in which eggs are harvested from her
body and only those that do not contain either mutated gene are fertilized. How must Iris’
chromosomes line up at the metaphase plate during meiosis for half of the resulting eggs to not
contain both atp7b and the red green colorblindness allele?
21. The coding strand sequence of the ATP7B gene is
The core promoter is underlined. Is the promoter proximal element upstream or downstream of
the core promoter?
a) Upstream
b) Downstream
22. Where does RNA polymerase begin transcribing the mRNA?
a) At the GCG (guanine, cytosine, guanine) sequence of nucleotides upstream of the core
promoter.
b) At the TAC (thymine, adenine, cytosine) sequence of nucleotides downstream of the core
promoter.
c) At the G (guanine) nucleotides immediately upstream of the core promoter.
d) At the A (adenine) nucleotide immediately downstream of the core promoter.
23. Once transcribed, what will the first 9 ribonucleotides of the pre-mRNA contain?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
3’ GCUCCUCGA 5’
3’ CGAGGACGU 5’
5’ AGGAUCCUU 3’
5’ UCCUAGGAA 3’
3’ UACUAUCGU 5’
5’ ATGATAGCA 3’
24. After pre-mRNA processing, the mature mRNA derived from the coding region of the ATP7B allele
is 20,003 ribonucleotides long. After pre-mRNA processing, the mature mRNA derived from the coding
region of the atp7b allele is 19,899 ribonucleotides long. An error in which of the following processes
could have caused this discrepancy?
a) RNA interference
b) Post translation modification
c) Splicing
d) Alternative splicing
25. The last 9 ribonucleotides of the mature mRNA derived from the coding region of the ATP7B allele is
5’ GGUGUUUCU 3’ ;
the last 9 ribonucleotides of the mature mRNA derived from the coding region of the atp7b allele is
5’ GGUGUUUUU 3’
How will this mutation effect the resulting amino acid chain?
a) The amino acid ARG in the protein that results from the ATP7B allele becomes LYS in
the protein that results from the atp7b allele.
b) The amino acid GLY in the protein that results from the ATP7B allele becomes ASP in
the protein that results from the atp7b allele.
c) The amino acid SER in the protein that results from the ATP7B allele becomes PHE in
the protein that results from the atp7b allele.
26. How does the mutation described above affect the resulting protein?
a) No effect
b) Mild effect
c) Severe effect
27. Which type of molecule catalyzes the reaction between amino acids during translation?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Nucleic acid-DNA
Nucleic acid-RNA
Protein
Lipid
28. Based on your answer to the previous questions, do the precursors (building blocks) of this molecule
spontaneously form in experiments that mimic the environment of early earth?
a) Yes, riboses and nitrogenous bases.
b) Yes, acetic acids.
c) No.
29. Iris has received three doses of the mRNA moderna COVID19 vaccine. How does the mRNA
vaccine work?
a) It inhibits RNA replicase, so it prevents infecting COVID19 particles from replicating
inside the human host cells.
b) It activates the inflammatory stage, so drowns the COVID19 particles in lymph.
c) It transmits the DNA for the entire COVID19 genome, so it teaches the immune system
to recognize and kill the COVID19 particles.
d) It transmits the mRNA that codes for Spike, so it teaches the immune system to recognize
and bind to Spike.
30. The COVID19 population will continue to acquire new mutations as long as particles
a) continue living
b) continue replicating
c) continue infecting