Chapter 8: DNA Structure and Function
Study Guide
1. When Avery and McCarty were attempting to identify the substance involved in
transferring hereditary material, which treatment inhibited the ability:
A. Lipid degrading enzymes
B. Protein degrading enzymes
C. Amino acid degrading enzymes
D. DNA degrading enzymes
E. RNA degrading enzymes
2. What are the base-pairing rule for DNA:
A. A-U, C-G
B. A-T, G-C
C. A-G, T-C
D. A-T, G-U
E. A-C, T-G
3. This must be laid down before DNA replication can begin:
A. Dimers
B. Primers
C. Nucleotides
4. As an embryo develops, cells become specialized and form different types of tissues
and organs by expressing different subsets of their DNA. This process is called:
A. Maturation
B. Differentiation
C. Cloning
D. Development
E. Growth
5. After chromosomes are duplicated, each of the new copies is called a:
A. Centromere
B. Clone
C. Sister chromatid
D. Replicate
E. Nucleosome
6. What is the first step of DNA replication:
A. DNA polymerases assemble new strands of DNA
B. Enzymes unwind and separate the two strands of DNA
C. DNA strands lengthen, winding into a double helix
D. DNA ligase seals gaps between DNA bases
E. Primers base-pair with DNA strands

7. Twins produced by embryo splitting ___ in their DNA sequence:
A. Must be identical to at least one parent
B. Are not identical to each other
C. Must be identical to the same parent
D. Are identical to the opposite parent
E. Are identical to one another
8. A karyotype is an image of ______ from a single cell.
A. Base sequences
B. Hereditary information
C. Nucleus
D. Clones
E. Chromosomes
9. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a method in which the DNA of an adult
donor’s:
A. Sex cell is transferred into an unfertilized egg
B. Sex cell is transferred into a fertilized egg
C. Body cell is transferred into a host’s body cell
D. Body cell is transferred into an unfertilized egg
E. Sex cell is transferred into a host’s body cell
10. What discovery of Frederick Griffith provided early clues about the function of DNA:
A. A full complement of hereditary information must be transmitted along with the
molecule
B. Heat destroyed to ability of lethal bacteria to cause pneumonia, but it did
not destroy their hereditary material
C. DNA-degrading enzymes prevented cell extract transformations, but RNA-
degrading enzymes did not
D. Each cell of a given species should contain the same amount of hereditary
material
E. DNA is not a protein; rather, it is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus
11. The building blocks of nucleic acids are:
A. Monosaccharides
B. Fatty acids
C. Nucleotides
D. Amino acids
12. The convergence of complementary nucleic acid strands that arises because of base-
pairing interactions is know as nucleic acid:
A. Hybridization
B. Fusion
C. Primer formation
D. Dimerization
E. Condensation

13. Human cells are considered diploid because they have:
A. The ability to divide
B. Autosomes and sex chromosomes
C. Two sets of chromosomes
D. Two strands of DNA
E. Both DNA and RNA
14. DNA synthesis proceeds:
A. Simultaneously in the 5’ to 3’ direction and the 3’ to 5’ direction
B. First in the 5’ to 3’ direction followed by the 3’ to 5’ direction
C. First in the 3’ to 5’ direction followed by the 5’ to 3’ direction
D. Only in the 5’ to 3’ direction
E. Only in the 3’ to 5’ direction
15. The energy needed to add a new nucleotide to the growing strand of DNA is acquired
from:
A. ATP
B. the nucleotide itself
C. NADH
D. DNA polymerase
16. What was the significance of the Hershey-Chase experiment:
A. They demonstrated that harmless bacterial cells had become permanently
transformed through a change in the bacterial hereditary system
B. They established that pure DNA extracted from disease-causing bacteria
transformed harmless strains into killer strains
C. They demonstrated that DNA content of a cell does not vary over time
D. They demonstrated that radioactively labeled bacteriophages transfer their
DNA but not their protein coats to their host bacteria
D. They finally demonstrated the semiconservative nature of DNA replication
17. Which of the following is not related to the other four:
A. Five-carbon sugars
B. Nucleotides
C. Phosphate groups
D. Nitrogenous bases
E. Amino acids
18. Four of the five answers listed below are bases used to construct nucleic acids.
Select the exception:
A. Guanine
B. Thymine
C. Phenylalanine
D. Cytosine
E. Adenine

19. Which scientist(s) identified the transforming substance involved in changing R
bacteria to S:
A. Avery and McCarty
B. Chargaff
C. Griffith
D. Pauling
E. Hershey and Chase
20. How can only four nucleotides account for the extreme diversity of traits within
living things:
A. Variations in nucleotide sequence can encode massive amount of
information
B. The biochemical structure of nucleotides differs between cell types
C. Complex organisms have more than four types of nucleotides
D. The nucleotides can base pair with any other nucleotide
21. The role of DNA ligase is to:
A. Join together fragments of DNA
B. Initiate together fragments of DNA
C. Form new DNA polymers
D. Break apart hydrogen bonds
E. Replace mispaired bases
22. Which statement best describes a DNA mutation:
A. Proofreading during replication replaces a mismatched nucleotide
B. A permanent change occurs in the nucleotide sequence of DNA
C. DNA polymerase adds an incorrect base during replication
D. A mistake in DNA sequence is repaired during replication
E. DNA is damaged by UV radiation
23. How did James Watson and Francis Crick contribute to the discovery of the structure
of DNA:
A. They determined that DNA is a polymer of nucleotides
B. They made the first clear x-ray diffraction image of DNA as it occurs in cells
C. They made three-dimensional models of DNA from scraps of metal and
cardboard cutouts
D. They used mathematical modeling to reveal that the bases were on the inside of
the DNA structure
E. They discovered that hydrogen bonds held DNA bases together
24. Sister chromatids attach to one another at a constricted region called the:
A. Centromere
B. Karyotype
C. Nucleosome
D. Histone
E. Autosome

25. To clone an adult, scientist transform one of its:
A. Undifferentiated cells into a differentiated cell by turning off certain DNA
segments
B. Undifferentiated cells into a differentiated cell by turning its unused DNA back
on
C. Differentiated cells into an undifferentiated cell by turning its unused DNA
back on
D. Differentiated cells into an undifferentiated cell by replacing its DNA
E. Undifferentiated cells into a differentiated cell by replacing its DNA
26. Which of the following is representative of a correct DNA strand ?
A. AGCT
TCGA
B. TTGA
ATCG
C. TAGC
CGAT
D.GGAT
AATG
27. Bacteriophages are:
A. Protistans
B. Viruses
C. Prions
D. Cellular components
E. Bacteria
28. Replication of DNA produces
A. One completely new DNA strand and the old parent is degraded
B. Two DNA strands that contain one new strand and one parent strand
C. RNA molecules
D. New proteins
E. Only new DNA
29. A genetic mutation may be passed on to offspring if the mutation occurs in what type
of cell:
A. Any cell in the organism
B. An egg or sperm cell
C. A somatic cell
D. A cancerous cell
E. A dividing cell in the body

30. How did Rosalind Franklin contribute to the discovery of the structure of DNA:
A. She determined that DNA is a polymer of nucleotides
B. She made the first clear x-ray diffraction image of DNA as it occurs in cells
C. She made three-dimensional models of DNA from scraps of metal and cardboard
cutouts
D. She used mathematical modeling to reveal that the bases were on the inside of
the DNA structure
E. She discovered that hydrogen bonds held DNA bases together
31. Chargaff’s first rule states that:
A. The amount of thymine equals the amount of adenine and the amount of
cytosine equals the amount of guanine
B. The amount of cytosine equals the amount of adenine and the amount of thymine
equals the amount of guanine
C. DNA of different species differs in its proportions of adenine and guanine
D. DNA of different species differs in its proportions of adenine and cytosine
32. The term “DNA sequence” refers to the:
A. Order of nucleotides in a strand of DNA
B. Identity of genes in a strand of DNA
C. Number of chromosomes in a nucleus
D. Number of hydrogen bonds in a strand of DNA
33. This protein structurally organizes eukaryotic chromosomes:
A. Nucleosome
B. Autosome
C. Histone
D. Nucleotide
34. A nucleosome is a:
A. Length of DNA wound twice around a spool of histone proteins
B. Protein which structurally organizes eukaryotic chromosomes
C. Chromosome that is the same in males and females
D. Short single strand of nucleotides
35. Humans have a chromosomal number of:
A. 23
B. 46
C. 12
D. 24

36. A human karyotype showing 22 pairs of autosomes and two X chromosomes would
be:
A. a normal female
B. a normal male
C. an abnormal female
D. an abnormal male
37. This type of bond holds the double helix together:
A. Covalent bond
B. Ionic bond
C. Hydrogen bond
38. The process by which DNA replicates is referred to as:
A. Modular replication
B. Conservative replication
C. Semiconservative replication
39. Which enzyme assembles new strands of DNA during replication:
A. Hybridization
B. DNA polymerase
C. Primers
D. DNA ligase
E. DNA synthase
40. Most DNA replication errors occur because:
A. Damaged DNA cannot be repaired
B. Mismatched bases cannot be corrected
C. DNA polymerases work very fast
D. DNA polymerases readily copy damaged DNA
E. DNA polymerases cannot proofread their work