,Essentials of Genetics, 8e (Klug)
Chapter 1 Introduction to Genetics
1) What is the name of the company or institution that has access to the health, genealogical, and
genetic information of approximately 270,000 residents of Iceland?
A) National Institutes of Health
B) deCODE
C) Gattaca
D) Biogen
E) American Cancer Society
Answer: B
Section: Introduction
2) A biotechnology company, deCODE, is in the process of creating a database that contains
.
A) the gene sequences of all newborns in the United States beginning in 2006
B) a compilation of all the known genes in humans throughout the free world
C) health, genealogical, and genetic information of approximately 270,000 residents of Iceland
D) a complete sequence of the human genome
E) all the information available on the human genome project
Answer: C
Section: Introduction
3) Why did deCODE select Iceland for its ambitious research project?
A) a relatively low degree of genetic diversity
B) frequent and extensive mutational bursts
C) high genetic diversity
D) lack of genealogical information
E) virtual absence of mutation
Answer: A
Section: Introduction
4) Many species have two representatives of each chromosome. In such species, the
characteristic number of chromosomes is called the number. It is usually symbolized
as .
A) haploid; n
B) haploid; 2n
C) diploid; 2n
D) diploid; n
E) None of the answers listed is correct.
Answer: C
Section: 1.2
,5) Genetics is the study of .
A) heredity and variation
B) mutation and recession
C) transcription and translation
D) diploid and haploid
E) replication and recombination
Answer: A
Section: 1.2
6) The genetic material DNA consists of basic subunits called .
A) mitochondria
B) lysosomes
C) centrioles
D) nucleotides
E) None of the answers listed is correct.
Answer: D
Section: 1.3
7) The immediate product of transcription is .
A) a phospholipid
B) an amino acid
C) a protein
D) a carbohydrate
E) RNA
Answer: E
Section: 1.3
8) Genetics is commonly grouped into several general areas: transmission, molecular, and
population/evolution. Which biological processes are studied in transmission genetics?
Answer: Mendelian inheritance (segregation and independent assortment), modification of
Mendelian patterns.
Section: Introduction
9) Which theory postulates that an organism is derived from materials originally present in the
egg that eventually differentiate into adult structures during development?
Answer: epigenesis
Section: 1.1
10) What is meant by the term gene?
Answer: a unit of inheritance
Section: 1.1
, 11) What term refers to the similarity between parents and offspring, and what term refers to the
lack of similarity between parents and offspring?
Answer: Heredity refers to the similarity between parents and offspring and the similarity of
members of the same species. Variation refers to the lack of similarity between parents and
offspring and members of the same species.
Section: 1.1, 1.2
12) Early in the twentieth century, Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri noted that the behavior of
chromosomes during meiosis is identical to the behavior of genes during gamete formation. They
proposed that genes are carried on chromosomes, which led to the basis of the .
Answer: Chromosome Theory of Inheritance
Section: 1.2
13) What is a mutation?
Answer: A mutation is an inherited change in a gene.
Section: 1.2
14) What is a simple definition of an allele?
Answer: An allele is a variant form of a gene.
Section: 1.2
15) Until the mid-1940s, many scientists considered proteins to be the likely candidates for the
genetic material. Why?
Answer: Proteins are the most abundant, universally distributed components in cells. Because of
their great structural and functional diversity, they were considered likely candidates.
Section: 1.2
16) Name the individual who, while working with the garden pea in the mid-1850s,
demonstrated quantitative patterns of heredity and developed a theory involving the behavior of
hereditary factors.
Answer: Gregor Mendel
Section: 1.2
17) What does the term genetics mean?
Answer: Genetics is a subdiscipline of biology concerned with the study of heredity and
variation at the molecular, cellular, developmental, organismal, and populational levels.
Section: 1.2
18) Name the substance that serves as the hereditary material in eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
Answer: DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid
Section: 1.2
19) Name two individuals who provided the conceptual basis for our present understanding that
genes are on chromosomes.
Answer: Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri
Section: 1.2
Chapter 1 Introduction to Genetics
1) What is the name of the company or institution that has access to the health, genealogical, and
genetic information of approximately 270,000 residents of Iceland?
A) National Institutes of Health
B) deCODE
C) Gattaca
D) Biogen
E) American Cancer Society
Answer: B
Section: Introduction
2) A biotechnology company, deCODE, is in the process of creating a database that contains
.
A) the gene sequences of all newborns in the United States beginning in 2006
B) a compilation of all the known genes in humans throughout the free world
C) health, genealogical, and genetic information of approximately 270,000 residents of Iceland
D) a complete sequence of the human genome
E) all the information available on the human genome project
Answer: C
Section: Introduction
3) Why did deCODE select Iceland for its ambitious research project?
A) a relatively low degree of genetic diversity
B) frequent and extensive mutational bursts
C) high genetic diversity
D) lack of genealogical information
E) virtual absence of mutation
Answer: A
Section: Introduction
4) Many species have two representatives of each chromosome. In such species, the
characteristic number of chromosomes is called the number. It is usually symbolized
as .
A) haploid; n
B) haploid; 2n
C) diploid; 2n
D) diploid; n
E) None of the answers listed is correct.
Answer: C
Section: 1.2
,5) Genetics is the study of .
A) heredity and variation
B) mutation and recession
C) transcription and translation
D) diploid and haploid
E) replication and recombination
Answer: A
Section: 1.2
6) The genetic material DNA consists of basic subunits called .
A) mitochondria
B) lysosomes
C) centrioles
D) nucleotides
E) None of the answers listed is correct.
Answer: D
Section: 1.3
7) The immediate product of transcription is .
A) a phospholipid
B) an amino acid
C) a protein
D) a carbohydrate
E) RNA
Answer: E
Section: 1.3
8) Genetics is commonly grouped into several general areas: transmission, molecular, and
population/evolution. Which biological processes are studied in transmission genetics?
Answer: Mendelian inheritance (segregation and independent assortment), modification of
Mendelian patterns.
Section: Introduction
9) Which theory postulates that an organism is derived from materials originally present in the
egg that eventually differentiate into adult structures during development?
Answer: epigenesis
Section: 1.1
10) What is meant by the term gene?
Answer: a unit of inheritance
Section: 1.1
, 11) What term refers to the similarity between parents and offspring, and what term refers to the
lack of similarity between parents and offspring?
Answer: Heredity refers to the similarity between parents and offspring and the similarity of
members of the same species. Variation refers to the lack of similarity between parents and
offspring and members of the same species.
Section: 1.1, 1.2
12) Early in the twentieth century, Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri noted that the behavior of
chromosomes during meiosis is identical to the behavior of genes during gamete formation. They
proposed that genes are carried on chromosomes, which led to the basis of the .
Answer: Chromosome Theory of Inheritance
Section: 1.2
13) What is a mutation?
Answer: A mutation is an inherited change in a gene.
Section: 1.2
14) What is a simple definition of an allele?
Answer: An allele is a variant form of a gene.
Section: 1.2
15) Until the mid-1940s, many scientists considered proteins to be the likely candidates for the
genetic material. Why?
Answer: Proteins are the most abundant, universally distributed components in cells. Because of
their great structural and functional diversity, they were considered likely candidates.
Section: 1.2
16) Name the individual who, while working with the garden pea in the mid-1850s,
demonstrated quantitative patterns of heredity and developed a theory involving the behavior of
hereditary factors.
Answer: Gregor Mendel
Section: 1.2
17) What does the term genetics mean?
Answer: Genetics is a subdiscipline of biology concerned with the study of heredity and
variation at the molecular, cellular, developmental, organismal, and populational levels.
Section: 1.2
18) Name the substance that serves as the hereditary material in eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
Answer: DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid
Section: 1.2
19) Name two individuals who provided the conceptual basis for our present understanding that
genes are on chromosomes.
Answer: Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri
Section: 1.2
