Download Cracking the Code of Life - Paint Valley Local Schools

Name _______________________ Date _________________
1.
Period _________
# ______
Cracking the Code of Life
The Human Genome Project (Segments 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 & 15)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/program_t.html
This program aired in ___________ and the Human Genome Project started in the
__________.
2.
There are ______ billion chemical letters that make up the instructions for a human being.
These letters make up the molecule _______ deoxyribonucleic acid.
3.
The scientists in this video compare DNA to an ___________ booklet because it tells our cells
what to do.
Give two important reasons (for mankind) for studying the human genome.
4.
5.
Throughout the video, they refer to DNA as a double helix. What did Mrs. Mohan tell you
that this looks like?
6.
If your DNA is isolated and analyzed, it can tell you whether or not you might be at risk for
developing ______________ disease or __________ cancer, just to name a few. (There are
many others, too.)
7.
It turns out that human beings have only __________as many genes as a fruit fly. DNA also
tells us that we are ________ closely related to worms and to yeast than most of us would
ever have imagined.
8.
The chemicals that make up the steps (ladder rungs) of the DNA molecule are adenine ____,
thymine _____, cytosine _____, and guanine _____. These chemicals form base pairs and the
______ bond with the _____ and the _____ bond with the _____.
9.
If the DNA molecule is 3 billion base pairs long (thousand of feet long) and is located in the
nucleus of a cell. How does it fit?
10.
Your DNA contains the _____________ information that you will pass to your offspring.
Every human baby born is _______ % identical in its genetic code to every other baby.
11.
What costly technology made mapping the human genome a more feasible task?
12.
What metaphor for DNA was used by the scientist? DNA is a ________ _________.
13.
Hayden’s mother was alerted to abnormalities in his _____________ compared to other
children his age.
14.
Hayden has _______ _________ which slowly destroy a baby’s brain because one letter in
the DNA sequence is wrong. This letter does not allow the protein that is supposed to
dissolve fat in the baby’s brain which causes the brain to become suffocated due to fatty build
up. A baby with Tay Sach’s usually dies by the age of ________.
15.
The irony of Hayden’s story is that his ___________ also has Tay Sach’s. It turns out that
both of the identical twin brothers and their wives were carriers of the disease.
16.
How could the human genome project help families like the Lord’s?
17.
How can a few people’s DNA being coded be used to make generalizations about all human
DNA? Because our DNA is ______ % the same. Our DNA is so similar because we are all
descendants of 10,000 to 20,000 people in Africa about 100,000 years ago.
Name _______________________ Date _________________
Period _________
# ______
18.
We share _____ % of the same genes with a banana. The machinery needed to replicate
DNA, control the cell cycle, for making nutrients, and to make the cell’s surface is all the
same.
19.
Baker’s yeast and humans have _______% the same genes (DNA sequences) in ubiquitin
even after a billion years of evolution. This shows that there are fundamental gene sequences
that make up all living organisms which have been around for millions of years.
20.
Riley Demanche was diagnosed with _________ _________ (CF), a disease which attacks
several organs of the body (lungs). Its victims suffer from chronic respiratory infections.
Half of all patients die before the age of 30.
21.
Riley could be treated by correcting his ___________. His error is ____ missing letters which
causes a faulty gene which creates a misshapen protein which causes him to have CF.
22.
This substance gets trapped inside the cell due to the misshapen protein in a CF patient.
________ It causes the cell surface to become sticky and covered with mucus that has to be
physically dislodged. Infections are also treated with antibiotics.
23.
Tony Ramos has CF but her symptoms did not show up until she was ______. Her mistake is
the same as baby Riley’s, but her DNA has compensated for her 3 missing letters which allow
her to live a better life than your typical CF patient.
24.
How could Tony’s situation benefit other CF patients?
25.
How do researchers determine the letter sequences that cause certain conditions?
26.
Why is Iceland the perfect place to look for diseased genes?
27.
One of the first diseases to be carefully observed was _____________. The arthritis patient
shown in the video was one of eleven of her brothers and sisters that were stricken with the
disease. This was exactly the kind of family that deCode (a biotechnology company) was
looking for. They got Mrs. Magnusdottir and other members of her family to donate blood
samples for DNA analysis. And to find more of her relatives, deCode entered her social
security number into their giant data base, and other members of her family were found.
To find out which ones had osteoarthritis, Stefansson asked the government of Iceland to give
his company exclusive access to the entire country's medical records. And in exchange,
deCode would pay a million dollars a year plus a share of any profits. That way, deCODE
could link everything in their computers—DNA, health records and family trees of the people
of Iceland.
What is the controversy behind this type of research?
28.
29.
30.
The two mutated genes that increase the risk for a woman acquiring breast or ovarian cancers
are ___________ and __________. These are inherited gene mutations and only cause 5-10%
of ovarian and breast cancers.
What is the probability that Lissa’s children will inherit the BRCA mutation?
31.
What treatment options are available to Alanna, Lissa’s daughter?
32.
What is the movie “Gattaca” and the television show “Star Trek Voyager” proposing?
33.
Are we able to modify other living organisms? ______ What?
34.
How are genetically modified crops (plants) more desirable?