Prof. Haines BIOL-100 Open Ended Questions:
Please answer 8 of 16 in complete sentences – at least one-half page per essay. So, a total of 8 essays.
Explain the difference between a one-celled organism and single cells of a multicellular organism please include structure and function.
A person is declared to be dead upon the irreversible ceasing of spontaneous body functions: brain activity, or blood circulation and respiration. However, only 1% of a person’s cells have to die in order for all of these things to happen. How can someone be dead when 99% of his or her cells are still alive?
Alchemists were the forerunners of modern-day chemists. Many of these medieval scholars and philosophers spent their lives trying to transform lead (atomic number 82) into gold (atomic number 79). Explain why they never succeeded.
Draw a shell model of a lithium atom (Li), which has 3 protons, then predict whether the majority of lithium atom in Earth are uncharged, positively charged or negatively charged.
In plants, the cell wall forms as a young plant cell secretes polysaccharides onto the outer surface of its plasma membrane. Being thin and pliable, this primary wall allows the cell to enlarge and change shape. In mature woody plants, cells in some tissues deposit material onto the primary wall’s inner surface. Why doesn’t this secondary wall form on the outer surface of the primary wall?
Beginning physics students are often taught he basic concepts of thermodynamics with two phrases: First, you can never win. Second, you can never break even. Explain.
Whiles looking into an aquarium, you see bubbles coming from an aquatic plant. What are the bubbles?
Mutations are the original source of genetic variation. How can mutations accumulate in DNA, given that cells have repair systems that fix mispaired nucleotides or breaks in DNA strands?
Jay-Z wanted to make JELL-O shots for his next party, but he felt guilty about encouraging his guests to consume alcohol. He tried to compensate for the toxicity of the alcohol by adding pieces of healthy fresh pineapple to the shots, but when he did, the JELL-O never solidified. What happened? Hint: JELL-O is mainly sugar and gelatinous mixture of proteins.
Wooly Mammoths have been extinct for about 10,000 years, however their remains have been well persevered in Siberia. Due to global warming, these remains are now available to be recovered. Scientists want to extract the DNA and through cloning insert the DNA into an elephant to clone the mammoth. What are some of the pros and cons of cloning an extinct animal?
Now that cloning is possible, should it be used to clone animals that are near extinction? What are the possible ramifications of this when it comes to genetic diversity and size of the gene pool?
The enzyme trypsin is sold as a dietary enzyme supplement. Explain what happens to trypsin taken with food.
What are the ethical and moral implications of human cloning? Is this a procedure that has already occurred? Should it be banned or promoted? Give specific details and rational for your answers.
In 2012 a research reported that she had made immortal stem cells from even patients. Her research was held as a breakthrough for people with generative diseases, because themselves maybe used to repair a person’s own damage tissues. The researcher published her results in a peer reviewer journal. Into 2014 the journal retracted the paper after other scientist discover the data had been fate. Does this incident show that results of scientific studies cannot be trusted? Or does it confirm the usefulness of scientific approach, because of a scientist discovered an expose the fraud?
Why are some genes expressed and some not?
Why was Roslyn Franklin not given the same respect as the other researchers in the understanding of DNA? Why did she not receive the Nobel Prize? What type of instrumentation did Roslyn Franklin use in her discovery of the structure of DNA? What contributed to Roslyn Franklin’s death? Have things changed since her time doing research with DNA?
In 1918, influenza pandemic that originated with avian flu killed 50 million people. Researchers isolated samples of that virus from bodies infected people preserved in Alaska permafrost since 1918. From the samples, they sequenced a viral genome, then reconstructed the virus. There because of the virus is 39,000 times more infectious than modern influenza strains and hundred percent lethal in mice. Understanding how this virus works and help us defend ourselves against other strains that might arise. For example, discovering what makes it so infectious and deadly would help us design more effective vaccines. Critics of the research are concerned: if the virus escapes the containment facilities and may cause another pandemic. Worse, the published DNA sequence and methods to make the virus could be used for criminal purposes. Do you think this research makes us more or less
