Bio4241 -
Midterm exam questions, 2014
Exam:
Wednesday, 05 March, 2-3P [1 hour exam]
Instructions:
1. Prepare answers for all of the
assigned midterm essay questions.
2. Your answer for each should fit
on the front and back of one
lined sheet of paper.
3. For the exam, I will select four questions. Answer any two of these: you may not
answer the question pertaining to your own group's presentation).
4. You may bring notes on your
prepared answers, on the front and back of one 8.5 x 11 sheet of
paper. [Please don't try
to cram complete essays onto this page!].
5. You will have one hour to
answer the two questions.
SMC1: What is a Gene? How would you define the concept "gene" in 2014? Compare and contrast your
definition with the “gene” as it was understood by the time
of the “cracking of the genetic code” ca. 1965.
SMC2: Repeat the Luria &
Delbruck calculations for the mean and variance in Experiment
21a in Table 2 [http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/4241smc_Luria_&_Delbruck_Table_2.htm].
Use the MOSSOM formula, not a calculator. Show
your work.
Group 1. Introductory textbooks often present
the Hershey
& Chase (1952)
experiment in an oversimplified manner.
Identify at
least three oversimplifications in the illustration at [ http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Hershey_Chase_Experiment2.html ].
Draw the graph
for the blender experiment [ http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Bio4241_Hershey-Chase_1952_experiment_ideal.html
] if the ideal result had
been obtained.
Group 2. Sketch the expected ultracentrifuge
picture from the Meselson & Stahl (1958) experiment
[ http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Bio4241_Meselson-Stahl_1958_experiment.html
]
IF DNA replication
were (1) conservative or
(2) dispersive. Describe a specific mode for
dispersive replication..
SMC
3. For the heritability example at [http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Biol4241_Heritability_&_Environment.html],
calculate the indicated correlation..
Group
4:Consider Table 3
in McClintock 1953 [http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Biol4241_McClintock_1950,_Table_3.html
].
Explain how the concept of graded potential of Ac activator explains
the difference between the 1:1
and 6:1 experimental
ratios in the first block.
Group
5: King & Wilson
1975 used four types of data to estimate the genetic
similarity of chimps and humans. Summarize the method of
calculation for protein electrophoresis, and show how the
value of 99.18% similarity was obtained from the data.
Group 6: Nirenberg et al. 1966
Group 7: Gill et al.
1994
Group 8: Hermani et al.
2010
All text material ©2014 by Steven M. Carr