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

Directions: This question presents a sentence, all or part of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.

Genetic mapping, along with chromosomal dissection and life form creation, are attempts to speed up the natural process, but while nature takes millions of years to effect even a minor change, human beings try to evolve these evolutionary changes in decades.

  1. Genetic mapping, along with chromosomal dissection and life form creation, are attempts to speed up

  2. Genetic mapping, as well as chromosomal dissection and life form creation, is an attempt to speed up

  3. Genetic mapping, along with chromosomal dissection and life form creation attempt to speed up

  4. Genetic mapping, accompanied by chromosomal dissection and life form creation, attempts to speed up

  5. Genetic mapping, together with chromosomal dissection and life form creation, are attempting to speed up
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The joining of a singular subject with another noun or pronoun, or with several nouns or pronouns, by prepositions such as along with, together with, as well as, in addition to, or accompanied by does not make the singular subject into a plural one. The verb should, therefore, be put in conjunction with the singular first subject. 'Genetic mapping' is a singular subject and 'is' is a singular verb. Hence the given option is correct.

Multiple choice

The new alleles in an individual's gene pool is/are introduced by

  1. mutation

  2. natural selection

  3. gene flow

  4. mutation and gene flow
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Both mutation and gene flow can cause new variations of genes to enter a population's gene pool. However, only mutation can introduce them into the gene pool of an entire species.

Multiple choice

Evolution can be caused from

  1. non-random mating

  2. Random mating

  3. consanguineous mating

  4. non-random and consanguineous mating
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Non-random mating of any sort can cause a change in population's gene pool frequencies, independent of any other evolutionary mechanism. Consanguineous mating (or inbreeding) is a form of non-random mating.

Multiple choice

When is intergeneric hybridisation used?

  1. When the genes for desirable characters are found in species of the same genus

  2. When the genes for desirable characters are not found between two different genera of the same family

  3. When sexual incompatibility can be overcome

  4. When successful hybridisation is desired always
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Intergeneric hybridisation is used when the genes for desirable characters are not found between two different genera of the same family.

Multiple choice

________is the program used for natural selection and artificial phenotype selection.

  1. Genetic algorithm

  2. MOD

  3. Clustal W

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Genetic algorithms are computational methods inspired by natural selection and artificial phenotype selection. They use principles like mutation, crossover, and selection to evolve solutions to optimization problems. MOD and ClustalW serve different purposes in bioinformatics.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not true for a species?

  1. Members of a species can interbreed.

  2. Variations occur among members of a species.

  3. Gene flow does not occur between the populations of a species.

  4. Each species is reproductively isolated from every other species.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

  Gene flow does occur between the populations of a species as they freely interbreed.so new genetic combinations occur.

Multiple choice

Continuity of specie is maintained by

  1. nutrition

  2. speciation

  3. reproduction

  4. variation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Reproduction ensures continuity of species by producing new individuals. Without reproduction, species would become extinct. Nutrition is about obtaining energy, speciation is the formation of new species, and variation is genetic diversity - none directly maintain continuity.

Multiple choice

Genetic change in response to an environmental stress typically takes place if the stress is

  1. severe and constant through out many generations

  2. mild and constant through out many generations

  3. very severe and short-term

  4. very severe and long-term

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Natural selection is most likely to result in the genetic change of a population when a stress is severe, constant and long term. Selection usually will favour the successful adaptation resulting in its increased frequency in subsequent generations.

Multiple choice

People inheriting a trait that provides a biological benefit in responding to a particular environmental stress

  1. are less likely to survive

  2. are less likely to pass on their genes to their future generations

  3. neither of the above

  4. both of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

If individuals can respond more successfully, they will usually be more healthy and vigorous. As a result, they are more likely to live longer and to reproduce. The net result will be that their genes will be more common in subsequent generations.

Multiple choice

Why are frame-shift mutations more mutating than base substitutions?

  1. Frameshifts are less common than base substitutions.

  2. More than one amino acid are affected by frameshift.

  3. More than one amino acid are affected by base substitutions.

  4. Only one amino acid is affected by frameshift.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Frameshift mutation affects more than one amino acid. Due to the triplet nature of gene expression by codons, the insertion or deletion can change the reading frame resulting in a completely different translation from the original.

Multiple choice

Genetic drift is provided by

  1. deleterious mutation

  2. beneficial mutation

  3. neutral mutation

  4. nearly neutral mutation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

A neutral mutation has no harmful or beneficial effect on the organism. Such mutations occur at a steady rate, forming the basis for the molecular clock. In the neutral theory of molecular evolution, neutral mutations provide genetic drift as the basis for most variation at the molecular level.

Multiple choice

The concept that any genetic information cannot be transmitted for long without some deterioration in quality due to copy error was given by which of the following rules?

  1. Allen’s rule

  2. Shannon’s rule

  3. Dollo’s rule

  4. Cope’s rule

  5. Jordan’s rule
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Shannon gave the concept that any genetic information cannot be transmitted for long without some deterioration in quality due to copy error was given by the following rule. It emphasized on the selective advantage of genetic redundancy in genetic transmission.