If mRNA is complementary to the DNA template strand and the DNA template strand is complementary to the DNA nontemplate strand, then why are base sequences of mRNA and the DNA nontemplate strand not identical? Could they ever be?

DNA replication is bidirectional and discontinuous; explain your understanding of those concepts.

 In eukaryotic cells, DNA and RNA synthesis occur in a separate compartment from protein synthesis. In prokaryotic cells, both processes occur together. What advantages might there be to separating the processes? What advantages might there be to having them occur together?

Explain Griffith’s transformation experiments. What did he conclude from them?

Imagine the Meselson and Stahl experiments had supported conservative replication instead of semi-conservative replication. What results would you predict to observe after two rounds of replication? Be specific regarding percent distributions of DNA incorporating 15N and 14N in the gradient.

 A frameshift mutation that results in the insertion of three nucleotides is often less deleterious than a mutation that results in the insertion of one nucleotide. Why?

When Chargaff was performing his experiments, the tetranucleotide hypothesis, which stated that DNA was composed of GACT nucleotide repeats, was the most widely accepted view of DNA’s composition. How did Chargaff disprove this hypothesis?

In pea plants, round peas (R) are dominant to wrinkled peas (r). You do a test cross between a pea plant with wrinkled peas (genotype rr) and a plant of unknown genotype that has round peas. You end up with three plants, all which have round peas. From this data, can you tell if the round pea parent plant is homozygous dominant or heterozygous? If the round pea parent plant is heterozygous, what is the probability that a random sample of 3 progeny peas will all be round?

This is the study of how people, with the same beginning, will go on various paths and become different people. For example, a group will all start their adult lives at graduation but each individual will go on to have a different career.

List and briefly describe the three processes that lead to variation in offspring with the same parents.