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Issues in Biotechnology
Study Guide for Quiz 10
Marine Biotechnology
*21. The Oceans: An Untapped Source and Aquaculture for the Future
*22. Poseidon’s Medicine Cabinet: Finding Drugs From the Sea
*23. Marine Biotechnology; Solutions towards Sustainability
*24. Biomining the Genetic Information from The Sea
*You can listen to either set of lectures 21&22 or 23& 24) or both
BCH190
1. The process of doubling a cell's DNA and dividing them into two new
daughter cells is called:
(A) meiosis
(B) homologous recombination
(C) crossing over
(D) mitosis
2. Molecular Biomimetics is a relatively recent field being applied to
marine biotechnology as a combination of what two fields?
(A) Nanotechnology and molecular biology
(B) Cancer biology and fish transgenics
(C) Aquaculture and nuclear fission
(D) Space exploration and molecular cloning
3. The common zebrafish
(A) has been genetically engineered with the green florescent protein and is being
sold as a Glo-fish
(B) all of the answers are correct
(C) can be readily genetically engineered by microinjection of egg cells
(D) is an important model system for developmental biology and the genome was
recently published
4. The stage of development when human embryonic stem cells are
harvested is called a:
(A) primitive-streak
(B) blastocyst
(C) holoblast
(D) gastrula
5. The process by which cells acquire specific functions and lose the
capacity to create all of the proteins encoded by their DNA:
(A) specialization
(B) segmentation
(C) triggering
(D) selective breeding
6. The search for pharmaceutical compounds in marine organisms is
called:
(A) biomining
(B) functional genomics
(C) bottom dredging
(D) genetic engineering
7. What famous scientist observed that a mold contaminant on a petri
dish containing staphylococci created a zone of inhibition, and was
awarded 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine together with Florey, Chain and
Abraham for the observation that lead to the discovery of penicillin?
(A) Sir Alexander Fleming
(B) Selman Abraham Waksman
(C) Linus Pauling
(D) Albert Kausch
8. Marine organisms have been discovered which contain
(A) potent anti-cancer drugs
(B) high amounts of radium which causes them to glow in the dark
(C) GMOs from escaped diatoms
(D) petroleum and other fossil fuels for alternative energy
9. A foreign gene that is stably introduced into fish is called
(A) aquaculture
(B) a hormone
(C) a transgene
(D) a hox gene
10. Emergent patterns by self assembly explains:
(A) how complex structures can be derived by simple rules
(B) hybridization of plants
(C) DNA replication
(D) line breeding
11. What are individual "master regulatory genes" that, when activated
by signal molecules during the development of an embryo, create
proteins that turn on other genes that control the development of
specific body segments?
(A) R-complexes
(B) hox genes
(C) luciferins
(D) helicases
12. A protein found in mammals and chickens, called myostatin, is
responsible for control of muscle growth and limits number of muscle
fibers. In Belgian blue cattle the myostatin gene has a small mutation
that renders the protein non-functional and this allows for continued
recruitment of muscle fibers in these cattle. Mice in which the gene
have been mutated have markedly increased growth and musculature.
Myostatin has been found in fish. The gene has been isolated and
attempts have been made to
(A) express this gene in chickens to create a fish that flies
(B) make transgenic trout that over express mutant myostatin or proteins that
inhibit the action of myostatin to make ‘double muscled’ fish
(C) use this gene in human gene therapy experiments
(D) use this gene as a performance enhancing drug by members of the New York
Yankees
13. Fish are wild animals that we still harvest. Numerous fisheries have
been seriously depleted and are in danger of collapse (tuna, swordfish
and others) There used to be an abundance of Atlantic Cod off the
coast of North America which has been drastically reduced (they have
all been made into fish sticks and codcakes). The sad history of humans
and the harvest of wild animals (think Moa bird, Steller’s Sea Cow and
Passenger Pigeon) predict that we will not stop until they are all gone.
One solution may be to grow fish for our own consumption the way we
mange chickens and cattle. The FAO recently wrote in a 2003 report
that ‘With capture fisheries at or nearing their capacities
___blank_____will have to shoulder an increasing burden in the effort
to feed the world's poor and hungry.” Fill in the blank with
(A) junk food from America
(B) United States and Europe
(C) the rain forest
(D) fish farms
14. A cascade of gene expression in organisms can be initiated by
(A) cell signaling when a signal binds to a receptor and a messenger protein
stimulates gene expression
(B) a foreign gene when it is introduced into cultured cells to produce
pharmaceuticals
(C) self assembly and emergent patterns
(D) mutations occur during cloning
15. Applications of biotechnology to aquaculture include:
(A) molecular markers for breeding
(B) vaccine development
(C) transgenics
(D) all of these applications
16. Green Florescent Protein (GFP) is encoded by a gene and when
expressed produces a protein that glows in the dark when illuminated
by UV light The gene has been cloned and is an important tool used to
genetically modify various organisms for gene expression studies. We
have see glow in the dark plants, Zebrafish (sold in pet stores as glofish) and even rabbits. GFP comes from:
(A) marine jellyfish
(B) genetically engineered viruses
(C) the process of RNA replication
(D) fluorescent fungi
17. The process by which each new generation of cells becomes different
in structure and function as an organism develops is called:
(A) cultural evolution
(B) equilibrium
(C) cloning
(D) differentiation
18. One of the major environmental concerns regarding transgenic fish
farms is:
(A) transgene escape to wild fish
(B) space enough to accommodate the fish farm
(C) horizontal gene transfer to other marine organisms
(D) toxicity of transgenic fish
19. Using a gene that codes for rainbow trout growth factor hormone
and a promoter that causes that gene to be continuously expressed
genetically engineered fish that grow faster have been produced:
(A) that escaped into the wild and reproduced with wild fish in Nova Scotia
(B) and were accidentally released into the ocean where they will not stop
growing; one report spotted one the size of a killer whale
(C) and have been on the market in the US for over five years
(D) for aquaculture purposes and await approval by the FDA
20. The first stage in cell division is called:
(A) metaphase
(B) prophase
(C) telophase
(D) anaphase
Issues in Biotechnology
Study Guide for Quiz 10
Cancer Biology
21. The Biology of Cancer
22. Emergent Technologies in Cancer Treatment
BCH 190
1. Cancer is believed to be a clonal disease, ‘initiated’ in a single cell and
then, as an expanding colony of cells, of 'evolving’ or 'progressing', with
successive genetic changes. The initiating events are widely thought to
be
(A) caused by nurture (environment only) rather than nature (genetics only)
(B) unrelated to DNA sequences
(C) genetic (mutation, translocation, amplification, etc.)
(D) non-biological in origin and still totally unknown
(E) a consequence of ‘sinful’ behaviors
2. There have been genes that have been identified to be associated with
certain types of cancer. Microarrays or biochips have been used to
examine differences in RNA population in cancer v non-cancerous cells.
Human cancer genes of special interest are
(A) genes that are causally linked to cancer development or oncogenesis
(B) those that have been introduced by genetic engineering
(C) now being investigated in cloned humans who have had these genes removed
from their genome
(D) only simple somatic cell mutations
(E) currently only those involved with breast cancer
3. Over 290 genes have been linked to cancer by identification of
mutations in primary human tumors. These genetic changes in DNA
linked to cancer include
(A) Point mutations; those that are activating or inactivating
(B) all of the types of mutations described in the other answers
(C) Deletions/insertions/frame shifts
(D) Translocations
(E) Aneuploidy (an extra chromosome)
4. One of the standards of care in cancer treatments include the use of
chemotherapy. Many of the small molecule chemical drugs still used in
modern chemotherapy are
(A) carcinogenic
(B) cytotoxic (kill fast growing cells)
(C) not currently developed by large pharmaceutical companies
(D) free of all side-effects
(E) only placebos
5. Biopsy and histology has been an effective tool for staging of colon
cancer using Dukes' staging. This type of staging works well only for
very good / very poor prognosis patients (Dukes' stage A and D), but it
is not very informative when predicting long-term outcomes of
intermediate prognosis patients (Dukes' stage B and C). A bigger
problem is that a biopsy and a Dukes’ classification provides a only
single snapshot in time… within the long natural history of a colon
tumor (until the day of biopsy). Molecular staging in colon cancer may
have the following implications:
(A) There will be an increase of misdiagnosis
(B) Molecular staging will be in the control of the big pharmaceutical companies
who will prefer to keep it secret because it will decrease the sales of their most
effective chemotherapies and decrease sales.
(C) Molecular staging itself may cause cancer
(D) Molecular staging may provide more accurate and early predictions of patient
outcome than is currently possible with clinical staging
(E) Directly cause an increase in health care costs and therefore be prohibitive
6. Progression of cancer development is thought to be due to both
genetic and non-genetic changes at the molecular level. The result of
clonal progression in carcinogenesis is
(A) a fortunate event because it signals programmed cell death of the tumor
(B) a clone of cells that is unresponsive to normal growth controls, and is able to
expand indefinitely.
(C) means that the cancer is untreatable
(D) a result of a gain in function of the tumor suppressor genes
(E) what renders some cancers as not dangerous
7. A biological positive feedback process in which events trigger other
events in an ever-growing amplification, as in the growth of an embryo
is called
(A) catapulting
(B) cogitation
(C) convergent evolution
(D) cascading
(E) immortality
8. Cancer is a disease of
(A) western civilization only primarily caused by bad diet
(B) primarily the poor
(C) accumulating genetic changes in everybody
(D) only the elderly
(E) consequences that are totally preventable
9. Since many cancers exhibit a 'field effect', elevated malignant
potential across a target tissue or organ can cause can be seen in which
of the following examples:
(A) sun-exposed skin
(B) all of these example exhibit field effects
(C) HPV-infected uterine cervix
(D) smokers’ lungs
(E) environmental air-borne toxins
10. In the brief time you have to read these questions, ~60 more
Americans will lose their fight with Cancer… One per minute… Every
minute… Every hour… ~1500 more victims each day. Most of us know
someone who has been touched by this disease and the socio-economic
burden to the country is large. The financial costs of cancer 2004 in the
US, according to NIH estimates are
(A) $300.0 million
(B) $189.8 billion
(C) Unable to be determined
(D) $156.1 trillion
(E) over ten times the cost of the Iraq war per year
11. The USS John Harvey, an American ship in Bari Harbor, carried a
highly classified load of 2,000 100-lb mustard bombs on Dec 2, 1943
when a German raid damaged 17 ships, including the Harvey. Fire on
the Harvey caused a mustard gas-laden smoke that spread quickly. 617
mustard gas poisoning cases among troops and merchant marine
seamen occurred. Studies of mustard gas by two young assistant
professors in Yale’s new Department of Pharmacology, Louis S.
Goodman, M.D., and Alfred Gilman, Ph.D had already shown
interesting biological effects of mustard gas that eventually lead to the
development of
(A) radiation therapy
(B) chemotherapy
(C) molecular staging
(D) gene therapy
(E) stem cell therapy
12. Going from a microscopic view of the histological appearance of
tumors in biopsies to a molecular view of analyzing the genes that are
expressed or not expressed in tumors can be done now by
(A) Generating a molecular profile on a GeneChip (microarray)
(B) Sequencing all of the genes in the patient
(C) Comparing all the genes of a patient to a healthy individual
(D) Doing a ‘Southern blot’ on the patient’s DNA
(E) Electron microscopy
13. The growth of blood vessel is know to have a strong influence on
tumor growth. AVASTIN is a very effect anti-cancer recombinant DNA
drug that as an antibody reacts with VEGF to inhibit tumor
(A) angiogenesis
(B) DNA synthesis
(C) transcription
(D) protein production
(E) origins
14. How a spider makes its web is indeed an amazing phenomenon. Just
how smart id that spider to figure this out? Remember the idea of
emergence that makes fractals or snowflakes appear very complicated
when actually the patterns are based on very simple if/then rules. A
spider can weave an intricate web because:
(A) the spider actually has a higher IQ that most college freshmen
(B) feedback in neural circuits involving a series of simple if/then rules
(C) complex behavior is outside the realm of biology and is because of
consciousness
(D) the spider generates a natural form of LSD
(E) spiders have learned how to communicate this knowledge to other spiders
15. Herceptin is an antibody based drug that is produced from cloned
DNA that has been introduced into cells so that it can be produced in
large quantities. Herceptin binds to erbB2 and is very effective against
what type of cancer?
(A) Brain cancer
(B) Herceptin treat all of these cancer types effectively
(C) Breast cancer
(D) Prostate cancer
(E) Lung cancer
16. The way bacteria find food in their environment is one of life’s
oldest forms response to chemical signaling A bacterium swims by using
their flagella. If one were to place a spot of acid on one side of a Petri
dish containing bacterial growth media and a spot of sugar on the
opposite side with the bacteria in the middle, they swim towards the
sugar responding by chemical signaling creates the appearance of
‘purpose’ (which begs the question about the nature of purpose vs
function). And we think our decision making processes are so
complicated, because we are, after all humans (which begs the question
about the nature of consciousness). This type of chemical signaling is
called:
(A) chemotaxis or “movement induced by chemicals”
(B) positive reinforcement
(C) fermentation
(D) sexual orientation
(E) gravipercpetion
17. Many cancers exhibit a 'field effect', suggesting that many normal-
appearing cells in a target tissue or organ may have elevated malignant
potential. This is consistent with
(A) that most cancers start with many cell
(B) there is nothing anyone can do to prevent cancer
(C) that cancer does not have a genetic component
(D) a molecular genetic view of monoclonal progression
(E) ancient Chinese herbals
18. Motion in living creatures which is undirected by any choice or goal
is known as;
(A) molecular communication
(B) random walk
(C) chemotaxis
(D) ecological feedback
(E) untrue in nature
19. Antibodies have some distinct advantages over old school small
molecule chemotherapies (such as mustard gas) for treating cancer
because they
(A) are highly specific
(B) are ideal for extracellular targets involved with tumor growth
(C) Eliminate potential for chemotype-based toxicities associated with small
molecules
(D) have a relatively long duration of coverage over the tumor target
(E) All of these reasons
20. Avastin is a humanized antibody that binds the peptide factor VEGF
with a half-life in humans of 17-21 days. This drug is produced from a
cloned segment of DNA that has been introduced into cell culture to
make a stable transgenic cell line. These cells are then grown in large
fermentors that are then harvested and the antibody is then purified
through biomanufacturing processes. This purified antibody is sold as
the drug Avastin which when introduced into the patient will cause
(A) The neutralization of VEGF that reduces or eliminates the ongoing
angiogenesis in tumors
(B) Tumors to stop replicating their DNA
(C) Metastasis
(D) Debilitating side effects, such as paralysis
(E) a shortened death process