DNA Cloning Trivia Quiz

Answer: The fertilization process used in artificial insemination (a method of introducing sperm to the egg without sex) and in vitro fertilization (the creation of "test-tube babies")

Only asexual reproduction can result in clones, so you know that the artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization answer is wrong.

Cloning and clones are actually a naturally occurring phenomenon that has existed for millennia. However, we have only recently been able to develop artificial cloning methods. Although generally associated with making clones of entire organism, duplication of a single gene or section of DNA is also a form of cloning (specifically called "molecular cloning"). (The correct definitions I gave were derived from the following sites: wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn www.knowledgebank.irri.org/glossary/glossary/d.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloning

Answer: The development of a gene therapy that allows for an embryo to have three biological parents in 2010

Again, sexual reproduction cannot produce clones and is not a form of cloning. If you're interested in the breakthrough that may allow for a child to have three parents and its implications you can check it out here: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/04/genetic-breakthrough-babies-three-parents/

Prior to the development of synthetic human insulin (the first breakthrough of biotechnology) people with diabetes were injected with pig and cow insulin. In the majority of cases this worked well. However, there is a 1-2 amino acid difference between pig and cow insulin and human insulin which resulted in an allergic reaction in some patients. Synthetic insulin had many less side effects because it is biologically identical to the patients own insulin.
Dolly the Sheep was not, in fact, the first clone. Cloning had been used for decades by this point and full organisms (for instance tadpoles and mice) had been cloned before. However, she was the first mammal to be cloned from a fully developed adult cell rather than an embryonic stem cell.
Herbicide resistant tobacco plants were developed through genetic engineering by artificially introducing a gene for herbicide resistance to the tobacco.

Answer: Plasmids (circular sections of DNA)

In 1973 Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen did the first major recombinant/cloned DNA experiments. E. coli bacteria have their genomic DNA, which is what we can think of as the basic DNA blueprint for E. coli. They also have DNA plasmids which carry non-essential genes that it has picked up over time. Tetracycline and Kanamycin (antibiotic) resistance is carried on these plasmids. Boyer and Cohen decided to use DNA cloning technology to merge the two resistances together into a single plasmid which granted resistance to both classes of antibiotics.

This was done through the process described in the next couple questions.

Answer: 1) Fragmentation, 2) Ligation, 3) Transfection

This is simply a question of order.

Answer: Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are actually famous psychologists and philosophers, not molecular biologists. Freud is quite possibly the most famous and influential psychologist. His theories and form of therapy (called psycho therapy) are still used today and deal intensively with early childhood experiences and how they influenced the development of a person's psychology.
Pierre and Marie Curie were a couple and shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work on radioactivity. Marie also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making her the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. Marie almost certainly died as a result of exposure to radiation in the course of her research.

She was also the first female to become a professor at the University of Paris.
James Watson and Francis Crick are the forefathers of modern molecular biology (the study of DNA).

They won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, along with Maurice Wilkins. Rosalind Franklin was also a major contributor to the discovery, but she died before the prize was awarded and Nobel Prizes were not awarded posthumously at that time.

They are also never awarded to more than three people at once. Herb Boyer went on to found the first biotechnology firm, "Genentech." Genentech and Bio-Gen (another early biotech company) were in a race to develop synthetic insulin. Genentech won the race, but many people believe it was an unfair competition because government regulations inhibited the Bio-Gen's research. Bio-Gen's method is now the standard method used in the development of new biotechnology and Genentech's method has largely died out because it is inefficient, slow, and expensive.

Answer: Restriction

Restriction enzymes recognize particular sequences of DNA and cut the DNA at that location. Restriction enzymes are developed by certain organisms in order to protect themselves from foreign matter, particularly viruses. The sequence that is cut by a particular restriction enzyme is not present in the organism's own genome and therefore the enzyme is harmless to the organism itself. However, when a foreign DNA strand is introduced, through a viral infection for example, it will cut the foreign DNA, thus disabling the virus and protecting itself.

Restriction enzymes are used to isolate the particular region of DNA which the scientist wants to clone.

Answer: DNA Ligase

DNA ligase is effectively the "glue" of the DNA world and is used to paste two sections of DNA to one another. This can have a number of uses in biotechnology and molecular biology research because it can be used to paste two different segments of DNA together to create a tailored gene or to paste the gene into a plasmid which can then be introduced to bacteria in order to genetically engineer it.

The experiment mentioned in question 3's "interesting info" section is a good example of this process.

Answer: None of these

There is no enzyme directly involved in the process of transfection. Transfection is simply the process of introducing a plasmid or other DNA section into another organism. The effect of this process on the organism is called "transformation" because it results in a slightly altered organism.

The introduction of the DNA is often accomplished by using a virus to "infect" the organism with the altered DNA. Thus: transformation + infection = transfection. DNA polymerase is part of the machinery which replicates DNA. Reverse transcriptase transforms RNA into DNA. Transferase is non-existent (to the extent of my knowledge)

Answer: Reproductive cloning is illegal in some states but therapeutic cloning is legal everywhere

Reproductive cloning is done with the express intent of creating an exact duplicate of an entire organism. This is what most people think of when the term "cloning" is mentioned. This form of cloning raises many ethical issues, particularly around the possibility of creating clones for the purpose of organ harvesting. It could also be used to repopulate endangered or extinct species.
Therapeutic cloning is more well known as stem cell therapy. Stem cells are cells that have not yet "differentiated" into a particular cell type and can therefore be used to replace or treat cells that have been damaged by genetic diseases, including cancer. However, this is also controversial because the only embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any cell and harvesting them is almost impossible without performing abortions or otherwise harming the embryo. Other stem cells can be collected from bone marrow, placenta, or umbilical cord. Unfortunately these cells can only differentiate into a limited number of cells, mostly blood cells. Also, harvesting bone marrow stem cells is extraordinarily painful and only limited a limited number of cadavers would qualify for donating bone marrow.
Legislation on human cloning has been proposed many times over the past two decades but it has never been passed because of controversy over therapeutic cloning. However, thirteen states have banned reproductive cloning and three more have banned reproductive cloning by institutions receiving state funding.

Answer: Sheep

Dolly the sheep was created by scientists at the University of Edinburgh in 1996 using a cell from a mammary gland. She lived for six years.