Bacterial Genome – Discussion Questions

1.) I was fairly successful in creating a scale model of the E.Coli., I did have a
little bit of difficulty inserting the entire DNA 10m length into the 2cm
capsule, since the DNA did not have folding from histome proteins. Students
used their pens, pencils and tables to try and pack the DNA into the capsule.
2.) The genome is the entire DNA (all the info), Chromosomes is how the
DNA is organized or structured within a cell, and a gene makes up the
genome: it is the specific information found in the genome that is in charge
of assembling proteins.
3.) 2 Lengths of thread is required because DNA is double stranded, and
because 1 length of thread will result in a haploid cell, therefore 2 lengths of
thread would represent a chromosome (diploid) found in somatic cells.
4.) Proportionally, it took about 2 strings of 10m long to represent the E.Coli
Genome.
5.) 10m X 1000 = 10000m. It would approximately 10000m of string to
represent a typical human genome.