GENES & GENETICS QUIZ
1. Which of the following terms describes the reaction
which links nucleotides together to form a
polynucleotide?
a) Hydrolysis
b) Translation
c) Condensation
d) Transcription
9. How many different ways can three of the four bases
A, C, G and T be combined?
a) 12
b) 16
c) 20
d) 64
2. Which of the following statements is not true? A gene:
a) is a piece of DNA which codes for protein.
b) Is made up of a sequence of nucleotides
c) Can be affected by mutation
d) Is a sequence of bases which codes for an
amino acid
10. The coding strand of a piece of DNA has the following
sequence of bases A T C A G T C C T. Which of the
following sequences represents a single-base
substitution?
a) T C A G T C C T
b) T T C A G T C C A
c) T T C A G T C C T
d) T A G T C A G G A
3. Which of the following is true about nucleotide bases?
a) Adenine is found in RNA but not in DNA
b) Thymine is found in DNA nut not in RNA
c) Uracil is found in DNA but not in RNA
d) Adenine is found in DNA but not in RNA
11. mRNA differs from DNA because:
a) its nucleotides contain a phosphate group
b) it transports amino acids to ribosomes
c) it contains the bade thymine
d) it consists of a single polynucleotide chain
4. Deoxyribose differs from glucose because it:
a) Contains 5 carbon atoms
b) Is a polysaccharide
c) Is a hexose
d) Contains twice as many hydrogen atoms as
oxygen atoms
12. Which of the following processes dows not occur in
DNA replication?
a) Hydrogen bonds break
b) Polunicleotide chains are formed
c) Condensation
d) MRNA nucleotides line up against the coding
strand of the DNA
5. Which of the following is found in all DNA
nucleotides?
a) The base thymine
b) A pentose sugar
c) A hexose sugar
d) A purine base
6. The DNA base sequence TCT and TCC both code for
the amino acid arginine. This illustrates the fact that
the genetic code is:
a) Universal
b) Non-overlapping
c) Degenerate
d) The same in all organisms
7. If we know how many thymine bases there are in a
piece of DNA, we can calculate the number of the
following bases:
a) Adenine
b) Cytosine
c) Guanine
d) Uracil
8. Because the genetic code is universal, the base
sequence CAG code for valine in:
a) Humans, lettuce plants and bacteria
b) Humans and lettuce plants but not bacteria
c) Humans but not lettuce plants or bacteria
d) Bacteria but not lettuce plants or humans
13. DNA replication takes place when the chromosomes:
a) Become visible during prophase
b) Are not visible as the cell in interphase
c) Are pulled apart during anaphase
d) Are arranged along the equator during
metaphase
14. When compared to its parent cell at the start of
mitosis, at the end of mitosis one of the daughter cells
will contain:
a) Half the number of chromosomes and half the
DNA
b) The same number of chromosomes and half
the DNA
c) Half the number of chromosomes and the
same amount of DNA
d) The same number of chromosomes and the
same amount of DNA
15. Insulin is a protein made in the pancreas. A human
skin cell contains:
a) The gene and the mRNA for making insulin
b) The gene for making insulin but not the nRNA
c) The mRNA for making insulin but not the
gene
d) Neither the gene nor the nRNA for making
insulin
16. Which of the following best describes what happens
during DNA replication? After the strands of the
original DNA molecule have separated:
a) Nucleotides line up against the
complementary nucleotides on both strands
b) New DNA molecules line up against both
strands
c) Nucleotides line up against the
complementary nucleotides on one strand
d) A new DNA molecule lines up against one
strand
17. During anaphase of mitosis:
a) The nuclear envelope breaks down
b) The chromosomes are arranged across the
equator of the cell
c) The chromosomes uncoil and lose their direct
appearance
d) The chromosomes are pulled apart
18. during translation:
a) an mRNA copy is produced of the base
sequence on the genes
b) mRNA passes froom the nucleus of the cell to
the cytoplasm
c) tRNA molecules lone up against mRNA
d) DNA nucleotides condense to form
polynucleotides
19. The base sequence on the coding strand of a
molecule of DNA is A T C G C A. The base sequence
on the mRNA formed from this is:
a) U A G C G U
b) T A G C G T
c) A U C G C A
d) U T C G C U
20. The tRNA anitcodon which will line up against the
codon A U C is:
a) U A G
b) T A G
c) A U C
d) A T C
21. A DNA molecule consists of two polynucleotide
chains. What is the minimum number of bases in a
piece of DNA which codes for a protein that consists
of 124 amino acids?
a) 124
b) 248
c) 372
d) 744
22. A piece of DNA codes for a protein. Which of the
following mutations is most likely to result in the
smallest change in the protein for which piece of DNA
codes?
a) Substitution of the first base in the sequence
b) Substitution of the third base in the sequence
c) Deletion of the first base in the sequence
d) Deletion of the third base in the sequence
23. When a human gene is inserted in a bacterial cell, the
bacterial cell produces the human protein because
the genetic code is:
a) Carried on DNA
b) Non-overlapping
c) Universal
d) Degenerate
24. Gene probes are often radioactive. This enables
them to:
a) Be located easily
b) Bind to another piece of DNA
c) Be separated from other pieces of DNA by
electrophoresis
d) Be inserted into vectors
25. A virus can be used to transfer a gene into another
organism. Because of this a virus is an example of a:
a) Clone
b) Plasmid
c) Marker
d) Vector
26. A DNA nucleotide and an mRNA nucleotide both
contain:
a) An amino acid, a phosphate group and a
base
b) A hexose sugar, a base and an amino acid
c) A pentose sugar, an amino acid and a base
d) A pentose sugar, a phosphate group and a
base
27. In a molecule of tRNA, some of the bases pair with
each other. In tRNA the base adenine pairs with:
a) Cytosine
b) Guanine
c) Thymine
d) Uracil
28. Which of the following is not a good reason for using
the root tips of onions to study mitosis?
a) Most of the cells will be in interphase
b) The chromosomes are large in size and few
in number
c) Root tips are areas of rapid growth
d) Root tips can be squashed to produce a thin
layer of cells
29. In a molecule of DNA, which of the following
expressions is not correct?
a) A + C = T + G
b) A + T = C + G
c) A = T
d) A = (C + G) – T
30. Which of the following statement about gene mutation
is not correct. It:
a) Can be inherited
b) May result in a change in the number of
bases that make up the gene
c) Always results in a change in the protein for
which the gene codes
d) May result in a change in the order of bases
that make up the gene
Answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C
D
B
A
B
C
A
A
D
C
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
D
D
B
B
B
A
D
C
A
A
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
D
B
C
A
D
D
D
A
B
C