Biology

• What are the 3 main parts of DNA?

  Sugar, phosphate and bases
• What are the 4 bases called?

  Adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine
• Which bases base pair?

  Adenine with thymine; cytosine with guanine (apples in the tree; cars in the garage)
• How do the bases in DNA form a code?

  Every 3 bases are called a triplet and these code for one amino acid. Amino acids join together to make a protein.
• What is genetic profiling?


  A unique pattern of DNA bands.
• What are the uses of genetic profiling?

  Criminal cases, paternity testing, classification of species.
• What are some of the ethical issues of genetic profiling?

  Breach of privacy; issues over who owns the information; DNA database includes innocent people; expensive
• What is a gene?


  A short section of DNA that codes for a protein.
• What is an allele?


  A different version of the same gene.
• What does "dominant allele" mean?

  An allele that is always expressed and is shown by a capital letter.
• What does "recessive allele" mean?


  An allele that is only expressed if there are two copies of it and is shown by a small letter.
• What does homozygous mean?

  You have 2 of the same alleles for a particular gene (e.g. aa or AA)
• What does heterozygous mean?

  You have 2 different alleles for the same gene (e.g. Aa)
• What does genotype mean?


  The genetic make up of an organism.
• What does phenotype mean?

  The expressed characteristic resulting from the genotype (e.g. eye colour).
• In genetic crosses, what do we call the first and second generations?

  F1 and F2.
• If an individual with genotype AA is crossed with an individual with genotype aa, what is the ratio of the offspring?

  4 Aa: 0 AA; 0aa
• Which sex chromosomes do men and women have?

  Men: XY and women: XX
• What is the chance of a couple with 3 boys having a girl in their 4th pregnancy

  50%
• What is genetic modification?

  When a gene from one organism is isolated using enzymes and then inserted into another organism to give it a new characteristic (e.g. weed killer resistant plants)
• What are the risks of genetic modification?


  Unknown long term effects.
• What major groups can plants be divided into?

  Flowering and non-flowering
• What major groups can animals be divided into?

  Vertebrates and invertebrates.
• Define vertebrate


  Does have a backbone
• What is the 5 Kingdom system of classification based upon?

  Morphological features
• What are the 5 kingdoms?

  Animal, plant, fungi, single celled organisms, bacteria
• Why do we use Latin to name organisms?

  It is a universal language that can be understood in every country
• What are the hierarchical taxa?

  Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
• What is an adaptation?


  A special feature or behaviour that makes an organism especially suited to its environment.
• What do animals compete for?

  Food, water, space, mates
• What do plants compete for?

  Water, sunlight, minerals, space
• Apart from competition, what else affects population size?

  Predation, disease, pollution
• What is biodiversity?


  The number and variety of species in an area
• Why is biodiversity important?

  Provides food, materials, new medicines and supports human well-being.
• How can we protect biodiversity?

  CITES, SSSIs, national parks, captive breeding programmes, seed/sperm banks, local biodiversity schemes
• What is the most important thing to consider when doing a quadrat sample?

  It must be random
• What does a quadrat sample determine?

  An estimation of the species number in an area.
• What does a transect measure?

  Number and distribution of species.
• What equipment do you need for a transect sample?

  Quadrat and tap measure.
• What is capture recapture used for?

  To estimate the number of an animal species in an area.