Directions
• Total grade for this exam is 100%. The exam is worth 10% of the overall course grade.
• Please post your exam by the end of Week 6. Late turn-in policy will be applied!
• Write down your answers below each question. Before posting your exam, save this file as _Midterm_Exam.doc. It is your responsibility to make sure that the file is uploaded successfully.
• Write down your name in the header of this document.
• Please limit your response to each question to approximately ½-page, single-space and limit the total exam to approximately 2-pages.
• Make sure to check your answers to remove any grammatical errors or typos.
• Everything must be in your own words. If any answer is plagiarized from a copyrighted source, you will get zero from the exam and procedures on plagiarism will be followed.
Questions
1. Briefly describe the gene translation process and the differences in translation mechanisms between the three domains of life.
2. Describe several different types of mutations, the various mechanisms of mutational repair, and the SOS response.
3. Briefly describe some current Next Generation Sequencing platforms and how they differ from more traditional Sanger sequencing and microarray platforms.
4. Give a high-level overview of the protein BLAST process. What resources are available for protein BLAST, how do you determine the statistical significance of sequence alignments, and how do you identify conserved sequences and motifs.