Molecular Biology Techniques
Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental techniques used in molecular biology research. Students will learn about DNA, RNA, and protein analysis methods including PCR, gel electrophoresis, blotting techniques, cloning, sequencing, and CRISPR-based gene editing. The course emphasizes both the theoretical principles and practical applications of these tools in experimental design, diagnostics, and biotechnology. Hands-on laboratory sessions and case studies illustrate how molecular biology techniques are applied to solve real-world problems in medicine, agriculture, and environmental science.
Recommended Textbook
Molecular Diagnostics Fundamentals Methods and Clinical Applications 2nd Edition by Lela Buckingham
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16 Chapters
448 Verified Questions
448 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: DNA
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Restriction endonucleases are enzymes that are produced by bacteria and __________.
A) degrade viral proteins
B) digest DNA
C) have no laboratory applications
D) degrade lipids
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the five ribose carbons of the deoxyribonucleotide are involved in formation of the DNA chain?
A) 1' and 5'
B) 2' and 4'
C) 3' and 4'
D) 3' and 5'
Answer: D
Q3) In DNA replication, the leading strand is the strand that has which orientation?
A) 5'to 3'
B) 3'to 5'
C) Both strands are leading.
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: RNA
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the lactose operon, which of the following configurations would result in gene expression?
A) Promoter +, Operator +, Repressor +, no inducer present
B) Promoter -, Operator +, Repressor +, no inducer present
C) Promoter -, Operator -, Repressor +, inducer present
D) Promoter +, Operator +, Repressor -, no inducer present
Answer: D
Q2) RNA is degraded by:
A) Helicases
B) Polymerases
C) Ribonucleases
D) Methylases
Answer: C
Q3) In an RNA molecule, adenine always base-pairs with:
A) Thymine
B) Cytosine
C) Uracil
D) Guanine
Answer: C
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Proteins
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Sample Questions
Q1) In early experiments, a polymer of uracil, UUUUUUUU , translated into a peptide comprising only phenylalanine amino acids. What did this observation demonstrate?
A) Uracil is not a functional nucleotide.
B) UUU codes for phenylalanine.
C) RNA cannot be faithfully translated in vitro.
D) No other amino acid codon contains uracil.
Answer: B
Q2) Specialized proteins that bind to the large ribosomal subunit and protect the hydrophobic regions of growing polypeptides are called:
A) Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases
B) Molecular chaperones
C) Metalloproteins
D) Peptidyl transferases
Answer: B
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5
Chapter 4: Nucleic Acid Extraction Methods
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25 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most abundant form of RNA in all cells is:
A) Ribosomal
B) Transfer
C) Messenger
D) Small nuclear
Q2) Which of the following is the first step in DNA isolation from cells in a clinical sample?
A) DNA precipitation
B) Precipitation of proteins
C) Lysis of cells
D) Eluting DNA from a spin column
Q3) DNA is isolated from a clinical sample. The absorbance at 260 nm is 0.489, and the absorbance at 280 nm is 0.257. Is this sample of sufficient quality for use in subsequent analyses?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Cannot be determined with the data given
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Chapter 5: Resolution and Detection of Nucleic Acids
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following molecules is added to an electrophoresis buffer for the purpose of denaturing DNA?
A) Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
B) Polyacrylamide
C) Formamide
D) Tris borate
Q2) A molecular biologist is to separate and analyze a mixture of nucleic acids that are about 100,000 bp in size. Which of the following methods will yield the best results?
A) Capillary electrophoresis
B) Rotating gel electrophoresis
C) Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
D) Traditional agarose gel electrophoresis
Q3) Nucleic acids migrate toward which pole in electrophoresis?
A) Cathode
B) Anode
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Chapter 6: Analysis and Characterization of Nucleic Acids and Proteins
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following solutions has the highest stringency?
A) 0% formamide
B) 10% formamide
C) high-salt buffer
D) 50% formamide
Q2) The melting temperature of nucleic acid is the temperature when:
A) All of the double-stranded DNA is single-stranded
B) Half of the double-stranded DNA is single-stranded
C) A quarter of the double-stranded DNA is single-stranded
D) All of the single-stranded DNA is double-stranded
Q3) A linear molecule has two sites for the restriction enzyme PstI and one site for the enzyme BamH1. How many fragments will result when digested with both enzymes?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
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8
Chapter 7: Nucleic Acid Amplification
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Sample Questions
Q1) The specificity of the PCR reaction is determined by which of the following components?
A) Mg<sup>2+</sup> concentration
B) Deoxynucleotides
C) DNA polymerase
D) Primers
Q2) What is the purpose of an amplification control in PCR?
A) To check for contamination
B) To distinguish true positives from false positives
C) To distinguish true negatives from false negatives
D) To protect the template from degradation
Q3) Which of the following is the function of SYBR Green in quantitative PCR?
A) Detection of the PCR product
B) Facilitates amplification
C) Prevents contamination
D) Minimizes mis-priming
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Chapter 8: Chromosomal Structure and Chromosomal Mutations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Down's syndrome is caused when an extra copy of chromosome 21 is created, which is what kind of genetic event?
A) Gene mutation
B) Chromosome mutation
C) Genome mutation
D) Euploidy
Q2) Which of the following is an advantage of interphase FISH as compared with metaphase FISH?
A) Examination of 20 spreads in interphase FISH has increased sensitivity.
B) One can identify mutations anywhere in the chromosome in interphase FISH.
C) Interphase FISH allows identification of all chromosomes.
D) Results are available faster in interphase FISH procedures than metaphase FISH procedures.
Q3) Human chromosomes 21 and 22 are described as which of the following with regard to the location of the centromere?
A) Telocentric
B) Holocentric
C) Metacentric
D) Acrocentric
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Chapter 9: Gene Mutations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which is critical to the success of sequence-specific PCR?
A) The 5' end of the primer must match the template.
B) The forward primer must have a higher Tm than the reverse primer.
C) The 3' base of the primer must be complementary to the template.
D) The primers must be less than 20 bases long.
Q2) A reference segment of DNA has the following sequence: GCTCACCATGG. Insertion of AG occurs between positions 7 and 8 in a particular genetic disease. How is this mutation denoted by accepted nomenclature?
A) 7C>AG
B) 7_8insAG
C) 8delAinsAG
D) 7_8delAG
Q3) The amino acid sequence DAILMNCST has an S8X mutation. Which of the following correctly describes this mutation?
A) Seven additional serine residues are inserted next to S.
B) The S is substituted with any amino acid at position 8.
C) There was a frameshift mutation at the S, producing a stop codon.
D) The S at position 8 is mutated to a nonsense codon.
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Chapter 10: DNA Sequencing
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ddNTP:dNTP ratio is too high (too much ddNTP). How will this affect sequencing results?
A) No effect
B) A sequencing ladder of only short fragments
C) A sequencing ladder of only long fragments
D) Equally spaced bands in every lane
Q2) When two sequences are found to be exactly the same, they have which of the following?
A) Heterology
B) Identity
C) Alignment
D) Motif
Q3) Which end of the sequenced DNA is found at the bottom of a sequencing gel?
A) 5'
B) 3'
C) 2'
D) 1'
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Page 12
Chapter 11: DNA Polymorphisms and Human Identification
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27 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) How many loci are considered core loci by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Combined DNA Indexing System?
A) 10
B) 12
C) 13
D) 16
Q2) When two sources of DNA are compared by STR analysis in a crime scene, how many differences between alleles will determine that the two sources are different?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 4
D) 6
Q3) What is a microvariant?
A) An STR allele missing base pairs in the repeat unit
B) Any mini-STR allele
C) A viral genome integrated into host DNA
D) A DNA region with many HaeIII sites
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Chapter 12: Detection and Identification of Microorganisms
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Sample Questions
Q1) A PCR assay that uses short primers that amplify random sequences found throughout the genome of the test organism is what variation of PCR?
A) Arbitrarily primed
B) Amplified fragment length polymorphism
C) Repetitive extragenic palindromic
D) Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus
Q2) The following methods that are used to determine the HIV viral load in a newly diagnosed patient. Which uses signal amplification?
A) NASBA
B) bDNA
C) RT-PCR
D) Sequencing
Q3) Which of the following typing methods is an RNA test?
A) Plasmid analysis
B) Ribotyping
C) PCR-RFLP
D) PFGE
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14
Chapter 13: Molecular Detection of Inherited Diseases
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Sample Questions
Q1) A pedigree was examined over four generations of a family with an abnormal rate of genetic disease. Scientists observed that males and females alike were affected by the disease but only when their mother was also affected. The children of affected males were all normal. All the children of affected females were affected. Which of the following describes this inheritance pattern?
A) Mitochondrial related
B) Autosomal dominant
C) Autosomal recessive
D) Sex linked
Q2) All members of a family carry the same gene polymorphism associated with a certain phenotype. There is a range of phenotypes among the family members. What is the term for this observation?
A) Variable expressivity
B) Complete penetrance
C) X-linked
D) Y-linked
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15
Chapter 14: Molecular Oncology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following targets is tissue specific but not necessarily tumor specific?
A) PML/RARA
B) EWS/FLI-1
C) EGFR
D) BCR/ABL
Q2) T-cell receptor gene rearrangements were analyzed by PCR using forward and reverse primers complementary to the V<sub>\(\gamma\)</sub>1 and J<sub>\(\gamma\)</sub>1 regions, respectively, of the T-cell receptor gene region. The products were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and bands visualized using ethidium bromide. The lane corresponding to the patient had a sharp band. All controls were acceptable. How is this result interpreted?
A) The patient has a monoclonal (monotypic) T-cell population.
B) The patient is normal and has polyclonal T cells.
C) This is a false positive because of amplification of immunoglobulin genes.
D) The assay should be repeated because the wrong primers were used.
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Chapter 15: DNA-Based Tissue Typing
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sequence-specific PCR using allele-specific primers and primers for an amplification control has been performed on DNA isolated from a patient requiring bone marrow transplantation. Analysis of the reaction by gel electrophoresis reveals the presence of two bands in a gel lane. How is this interpreted?
A) False positive
B) False negative
C) True positive
D) True negative
Q2) An HLA haplotype is inherited from:
A) Only the mother
B) Only the father
C) Both the mother and the father
D) Neither the mother nor the father
Q3) Which is in the MHC class II region?
A) HLA-A
B) Complement C2
C) TNF-alpha
D) HLA-D
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17
Chapter 16: Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Molecular Laboratory
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the proper way to handle raw data from a completed test run?
A) Submit the data to the ordering physician.
B) Discard the data immediately after the case is signed out.
C) Immediately shred the data to maintain patient privacy.
D) Retain the data with the final reports of the test run.
Q2) Which of the following organizations has established standards used by laboratory professionals when developing, implementing, and performing molecular-based laboratory tests?
A) Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute
B) American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
C) Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
D) National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science
Q3) Which test method is best for a fixed tissue specimen?
A) Long-range PCR
B) Southern blot
C) Standard PCR
D) PFGE
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Page 18