UPDATED ACTUAL Exam Questions and
CORRECT Answers
What property of DNA evidence makes it very useful in a criminal investigation? - CORRECT
ANSWER - It is unique to every organism
What stabilizes the complimentary base pairs in a DNA molecule? - CORRECT
ANSWER - hydrogen bonds
Why was the double helix model of DNA exciting to the scientific community? - CORRECT
ANSWER - it explained how genetic material could be duplicated by means of the
complementary strands
Most genes come in alternative forms called: - CORRECT ANSWER - alleles
In humans, genes make up what percentage of DNA? - CORRECT ANSWER - less than 5
The highest percentage of non-coding DNA is found in: - CORRECT ANSWER -
eukaryotes, with the exception of yeasts
What does the central dogma of molecular biology state? - CORRECT ANSWER - DNA
is transcribed into RNA which is translated into a protein
The expression of a gene to form a polypeptide occurs in two major steps. What are the two steps
in order? - CORRECT ANSWER - transcription, translation
DNA to protein involves which series of events - CORRECT ANSWER - transcription,
translation
, Where does transcription and translation occur within a eukaroytic cell? - CORRECT
ANSWER - transcription= nucleus
translation= cytoplasm
What are genotypes and phenotypes? - CORRECT ANSWER - Genotype: Genetic
makeup or allele combinations
Phenotype: Physical appearance (visible traits) , made of genotypes
What is a difference between mRNA and DNA? - CORRECT ANSWER - mRNA can
move throughout the cell, while DNA stays in the nucleus
mRNA contains uracil instead of thymine, which is found in DNA.
What is transcription? - CORRECT ANSWER - The process of making RNA from DNA
What is translation? - CORRECT ANSWER - the decoding of an mRNA message into a
protein
The three nonesense codons that do not code for any amino acid, UAA, UAG, and UGA, are also
know as? - CORRECT ANSWER - stop codons
What is a frameshift mutation? - CORRECT ANSWER - mutation that shifts the "reading"
frame of the genetic message by inserting or deleting a nucleotide
What is a point mutation? - CORRECT ANSWER - a mutation affecting only one or very
few nucleotides in a gene sequence.
What important factor can influence mutation rates? - CORRECT ANSWER - size of
gene, nucleotide sequence, spontaneous chemical changes