GENETIC ANALYSIS FINAL PAPER TESTED
QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
COMPLETE STUDY SHEET
●● What are restriction endonucleases?
Answer: Enzymes that clip DNA at selected positions, recognizing
sequences of 4 to 10 base pairs.
●● What is the role of restriction endonucleases in recombinant DNA
technology?
Answer: They recognize and cut foreign DNA, protecting bacteria and
archaea from incompatible DNA.
●● What are palindromes in the context of DNA?
Answer: Sequences of DNA that are identical when read from the 5′ to 3′
direction on both strands.
●● What are sticky ends?
Answer: Staggered cuts in DNA that leave short tails, allowing base
pairing with complementary tails on other DNA fragments.
●● What are restriction fragments?
Answer: Pieces of DNA produced by restriction endonucleases.
,●● What are restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs)?
Answer: Differences in cutting patterns of specific restriction
endonucleases that allow comparison of DNA from different organisms.
●● What is the function of ligase in recombinant DNA technology?
Answer: It seals sticky ends together by rejoining the phosphate-sugar
bonds cut by endonucleases.
●● What is reverse transcriptase?
Answer: An enzyme that converts RNA into DNA, used in replicating
retroviruses like HIV.
●● What is complementary DNA (cDNA)?
Answer: DNA synthesized from RNA, useful for synthesizing
eukaryotic genes from mRNA transcripts.
●● What does CRISPR stand for?
Answer: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
●● How does CRISPR technology work?
Answer: It uses the enzyme Cas9 to recognize and cut out foreign DNA
in organisms.
, ●● What is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)?
Answer: A technique that rapidly increases the amount of DNA in a
sample without complex purification.
●● What are the basic steps of PCR?
Answer: Denaturation, priming, and extension.
●● What is the purpose of primers in PCR?
Answer: They are synthetic oligonucleotides that indicate the start of
DNA amplification.
●● What is Taq polymerase?
Answer: A DNA polymerase isolated from thermophilic bacteria used in
PCR.
●● What is a cloning vector?
Answer: A plasmid or virus used to insert a gene into a cloning host.
●● What are desirable features of a microbial cloning host?
Answer: Rapid growth, nonpathogenic, well-mapped genome, and
ability to maintain foreign genes.
QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
COMPLETE STUDY SHEET
●● What are restriction endonucleases?
Answer: Enzymes that clip DNA at selected positions, recognizing
sequences of 4 to 10 base pairs.
●● What is the role of restriction endonucleases in recombinant DNA
technology?
Answer: They recognize and cut foreign DNA, protecting bacteria and
archaea from incompatible DNA.
●● What are palindromes in the context of DNA?
Answer: Sequences of DNA that are identical when read from the 5′ to 3′
direction on both strands.
●● What are sticky ends?
Answer: Staggered cuts in DNA that leave short tails, allowing base
pairing with complementary tails on other DNA fragments.
●● What are restriction fragments?
Answer: Pieces of DNA produced by restriction endonucleases.
,●● What are restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs)?
Answer: Differences in cutting patterns of specific restriction
endonucleases that allow comparison of DNA from different organisms.
●● What is the function of ligase in recombinant DNA technology?
Answer: It seals sticky ends together by rejoining the phosphate-sugar
bonds cut by endonucleases.
●● What is reverse transcriptase?
Answer: An enzyme that converts RNA into DNA, used in replicating
retroviruses like HIV.
●● What is complementary DNA (cDNA)?
Answer: DNA synthesized from RNA, useful for synthesizing
eukaryotic genes from mRNA transcripts.
●● What does CRISPR stand for?
Answer: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
●● How does CRISPR technology work?
Answer: It uses the enzyme Cas9 to recognize and cut out foreign DNA
in organisms.
, ●● What is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)?
Answer: A technique that rapidly increases the amount of DNA in a
sample without complex purification.
●● What are the basic steps of PCR?
Answer: Denaturation, priming, and extension.
●● What is the purpose of primers in PCR?
Answer: They are synthetic oligonucleotides that indicate the start of
DNA amplification.
●● What is Taq polymerase?
Answer: A DNA polymerase isolated from thermophilic bacteria used in
PCR.
●● What is a cloning vector?
Answer: A plasmid or virus used to insert a gene into a cloning host.
●● What are desirable features of a microbial cloning host?
Answer: Rapid growth, nonpathogenic, well-mapped genome, and
ability to maintain foreign genes.
