Biology

Genetics and Evolutionary Biology

1,123 Questions

Genetics and evolutionary biology explain how traits are passed from parents to offspring and how species change over time. Key concepts include genetic drift, inbreeding, and heredity. This topic is fundamental for the biology section of many competitive tests.

Heredity and traitsGenetic variations and driftInbreeding conceptsEvolutionary mechanisms

Genetics and Evolutionary Biology Questions

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Eugenics is the study of

  1. Altering humans beings by changing their genetic components

  2. People of European origin

  3. Different races of mankind

  4. Genetics of plants
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Eugenics is the study of improving human genetic qualities through selective reproduction. Option A correctly captures this definition of altering human genetic components. The other options refer to racial groups, people of European origin, or plant genetics, which are not the definition of eugenics.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Eugenics is the study of

  1. Altering humanbeings by changing their genetic components

  2. People of europian origin

  3. Different races of mankind

  4. Genetics of plants
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Eugenics is the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species by altering genetic components. Historically, this included selective breeding practices. The term comes from Greek 'eu' (good) and 'genics' (birth). Note: this field has controversial historical associations.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Eugenics is the study of

  1. Altering humans beings by changing their genetic components

  2. People of European origin

  3. Different races of mankind

  4. Genetics of plants
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Eugenics is the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population by altering their genetic components. It involves selective breeding and genetic engineering. The other options are incorrect: 'people of European origin' refers to a specific population group, 'different races' is anthropology/sociology, and 'genetics of plants' is agricultural botany.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Eugenics is the study of :

  1. Altering humans beings by changing their genetic components

  2. People of European origin

  3. Different races of mankind

  4. Genetics of plants
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Eugenics is the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the human species or population by altering their genetic components. It historically included selective breeding and genetic engineering. The term was coined by Francis Galton. It is not about Europeans specifically, races alone, or plant genetics.

Multiple choice

Which of the following genetic processes helps an allele to enhance its frequency?

  1. Genetic drift

  2. Genetic diversity

  3. Genetic variability

  4. Genetic hitchhiking
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

It is the process by which an allele may enhance in frequency by worth of being linked to a gene that is positively selected. Proximity on a chromosome may allow genes to be dragged along with a selective sweep experienced by an advantageous gene nearby.

Multiple choice

Genetic diversity is helpful in

  1. adaptation

  2. speciation

  3. mutations

  4. Both (1) and (2)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

 Genetic diversity is helpful in both adaptation and speciation.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following question has four choices, out of which ONLY ONE is correct.

Gloger's rule states that

  1. there should be a purposeless distribution of people around the world who have low concentrations of skin pigmentation

  2. dark skin has a benefit for the people who live in far north latitudes

  3. dark skin has a benefit for the people who live in far south latitudes

  4. in series of generations, natural selection contributes for changes in human skin colour
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

There is a selective advantage for people with dark complexions in regions of intense solar radiation.  

Multiple choice

Which of the following is required to see a founder effect?

  1. Population bottleneck in which the population is reduced to a relatively small number of breeding individuals.

  2. It is not associated with genetic drift.

  3. It cannot lead to the speciation and subsequent evolution of new species.

  4. Serial founder effects have occurred when populations migrate over long distances.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The founder effect occurs when a population bottleneck occurs leading to an effective increase in the frequency of a previously rare allele.

Multiple choice

If two populations are merged, each with different frequencies of an allele at a locus, and randomly mating occurs immediately, how long will it take to achieve a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the new population?

  1. One generation

  2. Ten generations

  3. Variable depends on allele frequencies

  4. The population will never achieve equilibrium.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

If there is true random mating in the new population, equilibrium will be achieved in one generation.

Multiple choice

Which of the following acts as a major contributor to a large variation of traits inherited by the progenies?

  1. Production of polar bodies

  2. Small gene pools

  3. Homozygous dominance

  4. Shuffling in homologous chromosomes
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The random shuffling of homologous chromosomes is the process that causes the most variation. It is like taking the 46 chromosomes you have, and paring them together by like ones, and flipping a coin to see if the one you inherited from your mother or father will go with each gamete produced.

Multiple choice

Hybridization refers to which of the following? (a) Different varieties (b) Different genera (c) Different species of the same genus

  1. a only

  2. b only

  3. c only

  4. b and c

  5. a, b and c
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Hybrid is an animal or plant resulting from a cross between genetically unlike individuals. Hybrids between different species are usually sterile. They can be of different varieties, different genera or different species of the same genus.