TEST BANK - CONCEPTS OF GENETICS, 12TH
(KLUG, 2019)
# Chapter 1: Introduction to Genetics — Test Bank Questions with Answers and Rationales
---
**1) In the 1600s, William Harvey studied reproduction and development. What is the term given to the
theory that states that an organism develops from the fertilized egg by a succession of developmental
events that lead to an adult?**
A) preformation
B) sequential pattern formation
C) equational transformation
D) transduction
E) epigenesis
**Answer: E**
**Rationale:** Epigenesis is the theory that an organism develops from a fertilized egg through a
succession of developmental events that gradually lead to the adult form. This contrasts with
preformation, which holds that the egg contains a complete miniature adult.
---
**2) What is the term given to the theory that states that the fertilized egg contains a complete
miniature adult?**
,A) preformation
B) transduction
C) transformation
D) conjugation
E) cell theory
**Answer: A**
**Rationale:** Preformation was the historical theory that the fertilized egg (or sperm) contains a
complete, miniature adult called a homunculus, which simply grows in size during development.
---
**3) What is the term given to the theory that put forth the idea that living organisms could arise by
incubating nonliving components?**
A) spontaneous generation
B) natural selection
C) evolution
D) preformation
E) collective combination
**Answer: A**
**Rationale:** Spontaneous generation was the discredited theory that living organisms could arise
from nonliving matter (e.g., maggots from rotting meat). It was disproven by experiments such as those
by Louis Pasteur.
---
, **4) What is a homunculus?**
A) a large cyst or growth on a plant due to viral infection
B) a sperm or egg containing a miniature adult, perfect in size and proportion
C) the intermediate stage of the DNA after CRISPR-Cas treatment
D) when the mitochondrion grows in size before splitting into two via fission
E) during development sometimes a growing individual's cell can become mutated and one part of the
child has different characteristics than the other
**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** A homunculus was the hypothetical miniature adult believed by preformationists to be
contained within the sperm or egg, perfect in size and proportion, which would simply enlarge during
development.
---
**5) Who, along with Alfred Wallace, formulated the theory of natural selection?**
A) Gregor Mendel
B) William Harvey
C) Louis Pasteur
D) Charles Darwin
E) James Watson
**Answer: D**
**Rationale:** Charles Darwin, along with Alfred Wallace, independently formulated the theory of
natural selection as the mechanism of evolution, published jointly in 1858 and elaborated in Darwin's
*On the Origin of Species* in 1859.
(KLUG, 2019)
# Chapter 1: Introduction to Genetics — Test Bank Questions with Answers and Rationales
---
**1) In the 1600s, William Harvey studied reproduction and development. What is the term given to the
theory that states that an organism develops from the fertilized egg by a succession of developmental
events that lead to an adult?**
A) preformation
B) sequential pattern formation
C) equational transformation
D) transduction
E) epigenesis
**Answer: E**
**Rationale:** Epigenesis is the theory that an organism develops from a fertilized egg through a
succession of developmental events that gradually lead to the adult form. This contrasts with
preformation, which holds that the egg contains a complete miniature adult.
---
**2) What is the term given to the theory that states that the fertilized egg contains a complete
miniature adult?**
,A) preformation
B) transduction
C) transformation
D) conjugation
E) cell theory
**Answer: A**
**Rationale:** Preformation was the historical theory that the fertilized egg (or sperm) contains a
complete, miniature adult called a homunculus, which simply grows in size during development.
---
**3) What is the term given to the theory that put forth the idea that living organisms could arise by
incubating nonliving components?**
A) spontaneous generation
B) natural selection
C) evolution
D) preformation
E) collective combination
**Answer: A**
**Rationale:** Spontaneous generation was the discredited theory that living organisms could arise
from nonliving matter (e.g., maggots from rotting meat). It was disproven by experiments such as those
by Louis Pasteur.
---
, **4) What is a homunculus?**
A) a large cyst or growth on a plant due to viral infection
B) a sperm or egg containing a miniature adult, perfect in size and proportion
C) the intermediate stage of the DNA after CRISPR-Cas treatment
D) when the mitochondrion grows in size before splitting into two via fission
E) during development sometimes a growing individual's cell can become mutated and one part of the
child has different characteristics than the other
**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** A homunculus was the hypothetical miniature adult believed by preformationists to be
contained within the sperm or egg, perfect in size and proportion, which would simply enlarge during
development.
---
**5) Who, along with Alfred Wallace, formulated the theory of natural selection?**
A) Gregor Mendel
B) William Harvey
C) Louis Pasteur
D) Charles Darwin
E) James Watson
**Answer: D**
**Rationale:** Charles Darwin, along with Alfred Wallace, independently formulated the theory of
natural selection as the mechanism of evolution, published jointly in 1858 and elaborated in Darwin's
*On the Origin of Species* in 1859.
