Bio4241 - Final Exam questions, 2015

Bio4241 - Final exam questions, 2015

Wednesday, 15 April, 2-4P

Instructions:
I will select five of the following questions. Answer any three: you may not answer the question pertaining to your own group's presentation. Your answers for each must fit on the front and back of one lined sheet of paper.

Group 1 – Explain the genetic phenomena that produce the patterns in the picture of pair-rule gene expression in Drosophila. What is the technical basis for the different cell colors?

Group 2 – Compare and contrast the experimental strategies by which HuGO and the Venter group obtained the complete sequence of the human genome.

Group 3 - Explain the one- & two-step models of cancer induction, using Retinoblastoma as a model.

Group 7 –Explain the difference between somatic and germline therapies. It is often suggested that somatic therapy for genetic diseases is less ethically controversial than germline therapy: discuss the arguments for and against each as a therapeutic procedure.

Group 5 - Explain the concept of the "Mitochondrial Eve" in terms of Most Recent Common Ancestor and Coalescence.

Group 6 – Explain the construction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), e.g. Monsanto's RoundUp Ready maize. What are the advantages and disadvantages, to business and society, of granting patent protection to GMOs?

SMC: Explain the difference between the concept of Heritability and the probability of inheritance. Under what conditions is heritable variation within a group likely to be less heritable in one environment than another? Under what conditions is the difference in variation between two groups likely to be highly heritable in one environment, and much less so in another?

KH: Explain the concept of "Duty to Warn". A physician's primary ethical obligation generally extends only to the immediate patient, and requires maintenance of confidentially about the patient's health information. In exceptional circumstances, ethical duties extend to other members of society, e.g., mandatory reporting of infectious disease to a public health officer. Should a physician have a "duty to warn" about genetic risks identified in an individual to members of the patient's extended family? If so, would such a duty apply to all inherited conditions, or would it depend upon the actual genetic risk and the nature of the disease?