Take The DNA DAY QUIZ - Submit your answer by April 15, 2006

In celebration of National DNA Day, the Biology Department is offering this quiz to test your knowledge about DNA and the quest to understand the genetic basis of life.

Try your hand at answering these questions. There are a number of links provided that will give you a head start at finding the answers and will provide you with a fascinating look at how the search for the genetic material developed.

The quiz is open to any members of our College Community. Students should check with their instructor to determine if credit is being offered for completing the quiz.

There are 3 ways to submit your answer:

1. Print the quiz and submit it to your science professor.

2. Print the quiz and place it in the drop off box located outside of the Biology Dept.'s Office(Taft 105)

3. If you are on a computer that supports e-mail, click the submit button to open an e-mail window. You can type your answers directly in the window and e-mail them to the biology department.

Quizzes which have all the correct answers will be entered in a drawing for prizes, so be sure to identify yourself or include contact information on your submission.

DNA and Genetics Quiz

1. According to information from the Human Genome Project, how many base pairs of DNA are contained in the human genome?

2. Our genes are the segments of DNA that code for the production of a protein or part of a protein. Not all of the DNA in our cells is actually a part of a gene. How many genes are in the human genome?

3. If all the DNA in the cells of a human were laid end to end, it would form a molecular ladder stretching for 100 billion kilometers ( the equivalent of going to the sun & back over 300 times). What is the length of the DNA molecule in an average human cell?

4. This monk was responsible for establishing the principle that traits can be passed from parent to offspring as discrete units of inheritance.

5. In 1869, this German chemist was the first person to isolate DNA ( He used the pus cells obtained from postoperative bandages - YUCK!)

6. In 1909, this scientist coined the term "gene" to describe these units of inheritance.

7. This scientist was the first to describe genes that could jump around on chromosomes.
          a.     What is her name?                b. What is the scientific name for "jumping genes"?

8. In 1962, these three scientists received the Nobel Prize for describing the molecular structure of DNA. Name them.

9. Although this researcher didn't receive the Nobel prize, it was her famous X-ray crystallography photograph that really showed that the DNA molecule is a double helix.

10. The information in our DNA is responsible for producing our physical traits and making each of us unique. These complex instructions are coded in a language that only has a 4 letter alphabet. What are the four bases found in DNA ?

11. Our DNA is the master blueprint, but the bases in DNA get copied into this nucleic acid before they are used to build proteins.

12. In the 1960's the genetic code was finally cracked, and we understood how the same 4 bases could be used to produce the same proteins in organisms as diverse as a human or a bacterium. Who is the scientist generally credited with cracking the genetic code?

13. Our DNA is folded up into linear threadlike structures called chromosomes. Humans have 46 chromosomes. How many chromosomes are found in the following types of dogs?
                            a. a Great Dane            b.     a toy poodle

14. In 1976, the first U.S. genetic engineering company was founded. What was it?

15. This company genetically engineered the first human protein to be produced by a bacteriaum. The bacterium was E.coli. What was the protein?

16. In 1994, the FDA approved the sale of the first genetically modified food. What was it?

17. The human genome project has been officially declared as completed in 2003. In what year was the human genome project first launched?

18. In 1999 the first human chromosome was completely sequenced. Which chromosome ( which number) was it?

               Submit answers via e-mail by April 15 to Rita Connolly.