The mystery of life

The diagram shows a human cell. Most human cells contain DNA.

1. Where in the cell is the DNA found?

A cytoplasm

B cell membrane

C vacuole

D nucleus

2. A DNA molecule is composed of two strands forming a

A double helix

B capillary

C ladder

D hexagon

3. HGP has found the position of every gene on each type of chromosome in the human body.

What does HGP stand for?

A Human Growth Protein

B Human Genetic Products

C Human Genome Project

D Haploid Gene Project

4. What is a use of the information found by the HGP?

A genetic modification of plants

B DNA fingerprinting from a crime scene

C cloning of Dolly the sheep

D selective breeding of cattle

Inheriting characteristics

The Punnett square shows how eye colour is inherited in a family. The mother’s egg cells contain either the allele for brown eyes (B) or the allele for blue eyes (b). All of the father’s sperm cells contain the allele for brown eyes (B).

5. Which of the following is missing from box L in the diagram?

A BB

B Bb

C bB

D bb

6. The four shaded boxes show the

A parent phenotype

B parent genotype

C offspring phenotype

D offspring genotype

7. The type of reproduction indicated by the Punnett square is

A artificial

B asexual

C sexual

D selective

8. The information in the Punnett square shows that the mother has

A two blue eyes

B one brown eye and one blue eye

C two bluish-brown eyes

D two brown eyes

9. Meiosis in animals produces

A sperm and body cells

B egg and body cells

C egg and sperm cells

D body cells

10. Variation is due to

A inheritance only

B environment only

C inheritance and environment

D neither inheritance nor environment

11. DNA contains paired bases which are represented by letters. One of these letters is G.

G stands for

A genes

B glucose

C guanine

D gametes

12. Which diagram shows the correct pairing of bases for a DNA molecule?

Working out the Code

In 1990, scientists from all over the world began work on the Human Genome Project (HGP). This project took 13 years to complete and the information collected was stored on a central computer.

13. The aim of the HGP was to

A find out if our genes were made of DNA

B find out if all of our cells contain genes

C identify all of the genes on our chromosomes

D identify how many chromosomes each of our cells contained.

14. Some people are concerned about how the information collected from HGP will be used.

Information collected as a result of the HGP may be used:

1. by employers to decide who gets a job

2. by scientists to design new medicines

3. to match donor organs to recipients

Which statements are likely to cause concern?

A 1 only

B 2 only

C 1 and 2

D 1, 2 and 3

Genetic disease

Use the diagram to answer questions 15, 16 and 17.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease. The normal allele, C, is dominant over the recessive CF allele, c.The diagram shows the incidence of CF in a family.

15. What is the genotype of person Q?

A homozygous recessive

B homozygous dominant

C carrier of CF

D person with CF

16. Person R is a female who is carrying

A no CF alleles in each body cell

B one CF allele in each body cell

C two CF alleles in each body cell

D more than two CF alleles in each body cell

17. What is the chance that the next child of parents R and S will inherit one or more CF alleles?

A 25%

B 50%

C 75%

D 100%

18. Which statements about genetic inheritance are true.

1. recessive alleles never have an effect on an individual

2. dominant alleles can cancel out the effects of recessive alleles

A 1 only

B 2 only

C both 1 and 2

D neither 1 nor 2

19. The cells in the body which create sperm are

A diploid and produce 4 haploid sperm cells

B haploid and produce 4 diploid sperm cells

C diploid and produce 2 haploid sperm cells

D haploid and produce 2 diploid sperm cells

20. The graph shows the masses of two different types of tomato.

Which statement is true?

A Genes do not affect the mass of tomatoes.

B Type 1 tomatoes show continuous variation.

C Type 2 tomatoes are sometimes smaller than type 1 tomatoes.

D Type 2 tomatoes show discontinuous variation.