Genetics and Medicine Exam 4 Key Biology 1010 Spring 2014

Multiple choice questions:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

All answer choices were given credit

10. C
11. D
12. D
13. D
14. B
15. D
Essay questions:

1. Antithrombin III, a human anti-coagulant with important medical applications, can be

manufactured in goats milk using recombinant DNA technology (illustrated in an in-class
video). What are the advantages of using this methodology as compared to purification of the
same protein from human blood serum samples/donations? (6 points)
First, the human blood supply is not the most easily available starting material nor is it the most
trustworthy because of a lack of medical history for the individual who donated the blood.
Second, milk is a substance that has fewer components than possibly blood and certainly fewer than whole
cell and purification will be simpler.
Third, greater amounts of antithrombin III can be produced in a more economical manner using a
bioreactor called a nanny goat that is maintained on a diet of hay- cost efficiency.

2. The largest and the most frequent new disease outbreaks are recorded for Europe and North
America. But the majority of new diseases arise by transfer of infectious agents from animals to
people, in other locations often where people live in closer proximity to their farm animalstypically from rural and/or third world countries. How do you reconcile these two diverse
observations concerning the source of an emerging infectious disease and the location of its
greatest impact? (4 points)
Answer: Today, the origin of an infectious disease could take place anywhere and zoonotic
infections are among the most common sources of emerging diseases. Depending upon the
population size and location of the initial outbreak, spread of the disease could be disastrous
locally but not spread if the area is extremely rural. However, most major outbreaks or
epidemics will take place where human populations are very dense and have no natural
defenses for the infectious agents. The easiest scenario is the transfer of a new infectious agent

in airline passengers from an undeveloped country to a major population center such as New
York or Berlin.