Name _____________________________________ Period ____
How to sequence the human genome
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-sequence-the-human-genome-mark-j-kiel
1. If there are 3 billion letters in the reference genome, how much did it cost per letter to sequence the
first human genome?
a. $0.01
b. $0.10
c. $1.00
d. $10.00
2. If every letter in the genome were the size of a marble (diameter 15mm), a genome-sized collection of
marbles would fill ________.
a. A closet
b. A room
c. An apartment
d. A mansion
3. When sequencing a genome, how do scientists deal with the problem of how big the genome is?
a. Ignore parts of the genome that are unimportant and only sequence important parts
b. Break up the genome into smaller pieces and sequence all the pieces at once
c. Sequence every tenth letter
d. Only sequence one of the two strands in a double stranded piece of DNA from a genome
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4.
What is one way that scientists deal with the problem of how small the genome is?
a. Use a microscope to see each letter better
b. Add salt water to the DNA to make it swell
c. Add enough colored letters to get more than one to stick at a time to the DNA
d. Make copies of the DNA
5. Scientists use special colored letters and enzymes to learn what the sequence of a cluster of identical
pieces of DNA is. How?
a. A sequential series of pictures of colored spots are taken and analyzed
b. All the colored letters added into newly made DNA make a unique hue for each spot
c. The time before the color fades away is an indication of the sequence of letters
6. Once we have the sequences for each piece of DNA from a genome, scientists ________.
a. Make sure all the sequences of every piece are the same and that there are no mutations
b. Make sure there is the same number of letters in each piece
c. Put them all together using the first genome sequence as a guide
d. Make sure there was at least one T in each piece
7. Explain why it might be important that scientists learn the sequence of letters that make up an
individual’s genome.
8. Why is it necessary to generate so much DNA sequence data all at once when sequencing a genome?
9. When scientists sequence the genome, why doesn’t it matter which strand of the double stranded DNA
is sequenced?