BackUsing animal models of human diseases can lead to insights into the cellular and genetic bases of the diseases. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the consequence of an X-linked recessive allele.
How would you make a Drosophila model of DMD?
Restriction sites are palindromic; that is, they read the same in the 5' to 3' direction on each strand of DNA. What is the advantage of having restriction sites organized this way?
Using animal models of human diseases can lead to insights into the cellular and genetic bases of the diseases. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the consequence of an X-linked recessive allele.
How would you make a mouse model of DMD?
List the advantages and disadvantages of using plasmids as cloning vectors. What advantages do BACs and YACs provide over plasmids as cloning vectors?
What are the advantages of using a restriction enzyme whose recognition site is relatively rare? When would you use such enzymes?
Outline the roles played by restriction enzymes and vectors in cloning DNA.
In 1975, the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA was organized by Paul Berg, a pioneer of recombinant DNA technology, at a conference center at Asilomar State Beach in California. Physicians, scientists, lawyers, ethicists, and others gathered to draft guidelines for safe applications of recombinant DNA technology. These general guidelines were adopted by the federal government and are still in practice today. Consider the implications of recombinant DNA as a new technology. What concerns might the scientific community have had then about recombinant DNA technology? Might those same concerns exist today?
Injection of double-stranded RNA can lead to gene silencing by degradation of RNA molecules complementary to either strand of the dsRNA. Could RNAi be used in gene therapy for a defect caused by a recessive allele? A dominant allele? If so, what might be the major obstacle to using RNAi as a therapeutic agent?
What are some of the impacts of biotechnology on crop plants in the United States?
In the context of recombinant DNA technology, of what use is a probe?
Summarize the arguments for and against patenting genetically modified organisms.
If you performed a PCR experiment starting with only one copy of double-stranded DNA, approximately how many DNA molecules would be present in the reaction tube after 15 cycles of amplification?