18 Questions
What did Erwin Chargaff establish about the nitrogenous bases in DNA?
The number of purines equals the number of pyrimidines.
Which technique did Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins use to analyze the structure of DNA?
X-ray scattering
What did the X-ray scattering patterns of DNA suggest about its structure?
It was helical in nature.
Why did Watson and Crick arrange the two DNA strands with the sugar-phosphate backbones on the outside and the bases on the inside?
To fit the bases within the interior of a 2.0 nm-wide structure.
What was the significance of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins?
Awarded for solving the structure of DNA.
What did the repeating distances in X-ray scattering patterns imply about DNA molecules?
They have a regular and repeating structure.
What is one of the fundamental characteristics that organisms share?
Replication
What did Robert Hooke coin the term 'cells' for?
Pores in cork observed under a microscope
Which of the following is not mentioned as one of the five fundamental characteristics of organisms in the text?
Oxygen production
What is one goal that almost everything an organism does contributes to, according to Francois Jacob?
Replicating itself
Which famous biologist is quoted in the text with the statement about the 'dream of a bacterium'?
Francois Jacob
What did Robert Hooke devise in 1665 to examine the structure of cork?
Microscope
What is the main difference between RNA and DNA molecules?
RNA molecules have more diverse size, shape, and reactivity than DNA molecules.
What discovery led Sidney Altman and Thomas Cech to share the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
Discovery of ribozymes or RNA enzymes catalyzing reactions similar to protein enzymes.
Which statement best describes the Tertiary Structure Tetrahymena Ribozyme?
It catalyzes the hydrolysis and condensation of phosphodiester linkages in RNA.
How does the relationship between ribozymes and proteins suggest the order of events in chemical evolution?
Ribozymes were crucial for protein synthesis before proteins were involved.
What aspect of chemical evolution do random changes in nucleic acids lead to?
Synthesis of different proteins and ribozymes with selective advantages.
What selective advantage allowed for the evolution of new functions during chemical evolution?
Advantages resulting from specific changes in proteins and ribozymes.
Test your knowledge on the key discoveries leading to the understanding of DNA structure by scientists like Watson, Crick, Chargaff, Franklin, and Wilkins. Learn about the sugar-phosphate backbone, Chargaff's rules, and the X-ray diffraction study.
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