19. Genomics

There is about 1,000 times as much DNA in a human cell as in an E. coli cell but only about 5 times as many genes. What accounts for this discrepancy?

The eukaryotic genome is much less tidy and compact than the genomes of prokaryotes. Eukaryotes, but not prokaryotes, have __________.

Alu elements __________.

Recall that the human genome contains roughly 3 billion base pairs per haploid genome and that about 25% of the human genome is associated with genes, including introns and regulatory sequence. What would be the approximate average length of DNA per human gene if the genome contained 20,000 genes?

Chromosomal rearrangements may be important in evolution because __________.

The molecular data indicate that the globin gene family __________.

Evolution can rapidly alter a protein-coding gene so it encodes a protein with a different structure and function through __________.

How do transposable elements promote genetic diversity in a population?

Why might active transposons be rare in natural populations?

What can be learned from comparing the genomes of distantly related species, such as yeast and humans or plants and fruit flies?

Detailed comparison of the human and chimpanzee genomes has revealed that __________.

A gene family has been identified that has undergone extensive duplication in humans but is present in only one or a few copies in other primates or other mammals. What experimental approaches could be used to determine the function of this gene and its significance in human evolution?

What is a valid rationale for sequencing the chimpanzee genome?

Scientists have succeeded in sequencing the Neanderthal genome with DNA extracted from Neanderthal bones. Information from this project might reveal __________.

Which of the following best describes the experimental evidence that the FOXP2 gene is vital to the normal development of vocalization in vertebrates and yet has evolved among different vertebrate lineages?