Biotechnology
This section will concentrate on recent advances in biotechnology.
A)
Web site name: Nova – Cracking the code of life
Web URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/dna.html#
Click on “Journey into DNA” at the bottom of the page (if you do not have Flash,
you can either download it for free from this page, or just click on the “non-Flash
version”). In the Flash version, click on the + sign to go to the next page.
1)
Roughly how many cells are in the human body? ______________________
2)
What is the result of DNA “turning on” or “turning off” different sections of
its information? ________________________________________________
3)
Which cell does not have a nucleus? _______________________________
4)
What do dark bands in the chromosome indicate? _____________________
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5)
How many atoms make up a nucleotide? ____________________________
B)
Web site name: BBC News
Web site address: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4197844.stm
Read “Life code of chimps laid bare”
6)
How similar are humans and chimps in the most important areas of their
“life codes” (the genes): ___________ % identical
7)
Which five countries worked together to sequence the chimp DNA?
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8)
How long ago did chimps and humans share a common ancestor?
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9)
If you include non-coding or “junk” DNA how different are we from
chimps? ___________ %
10)
What are three human characteristics?
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11)
Which gene seems to protect chimps from Alzheimer’s disease?
_______________________________________
12)
Which other mammals have had, or are having, their genes sequenced?
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C)
Web site name: Patient.co.uk
Web site URL: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/genetic-testing
Read “Genetic testing”
13)
How many genes does each chromosome carry?
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14)
What is genetic testing? __________________________________________
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15)
In molecular genetic tests, where is the DNA taken from?
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16)
What is karyotyping? ________________________________________
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17)
What is “diagnostic testing”? _____________________________________
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18)
In pregnancy, what are the two ways samples may be taken from the baby?
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D)
Web site name: University of Utah
Web site URL: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/science/forensics/
19)
When was DNA analysis first used in U.S. courtrooms? ________________
20)
What percentage of your DNA is unique? ___________ %
21)
At a crime scene, what types of evidence contain DNA?
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22)
Why does the NRC recommend that evidence samples are divided up soon
after collection?
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23)
What other types of evidence can be used to back up DNA evidence?
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24)
How many prisoners have been exonerated using DNA evidence?
__________________________________
25)
Several states restrict the time for post-trial submission of DNA evidence to
_______________________ or less.
26)
Do you think that a 6 month, or less, limit on submitting DNA evidence is
fair? Explain your answer:
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E)
Web site name: BBC news
Web site URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21078731
Read “Salmon steak from GM fish”
27)
How many years has AquaBounty been working on this salmon? ______
28)
Why is the risk of the GM fish breeding in the wild “negligible”?
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29)
What is one argument against these GM salmon?
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30)
What was the original plan for the florescent fish produced in Singapore?
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31)
What possible problem do you think could be caused by developing
chickens or pigs that are resistant to disease?
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32)
Would you eat GM (genetically modified) salmon? Explain your answer.
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F)
Go to a news website, such as CNN http://www.cnn.com
or ABC news http://abcnews.go.com/ or your local news station.
Use the “Search” button to look for recent articles dealing with “genetic
fingerprint” or “GM food” or “biotechnology”. Click on several sites and
pick the most interesting one.
34). Which news site did you go to? _______________________________
35). What is the title of the article you picked?
_____________________________________________________________
36). Does the website have photos or diagrams? __________________________
37). Briefly summarize the article in your own words:
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