Assignment
(1) A horrific viral plague has beseeched human beings. It appears to have originated from a mutated flu strain in migratory geese that roost throughout the Northern hemisphere. The virus is 100% fatal to the genetically typical human being. Now, the question remains as to whether humans will endure as a species or be relegated into extinction with the dinosaur, dodo, and other animals that will never be again. If natural selection and Darwinian evolution is the accepted driving force for microevolution of a population, then what must be true in order for humans to survive? What would have to be true if LaMarckian evolution were the actual force governing population adaptation and survival?
(2) Why do we call the 5'-3' strand of DNA in the double stranded DNA molecule the informational strand when discussing transcription?
(3) Why is antibiotic resistance a good example of directional selection when considering the various types of selection pressures during evolution?
(4) What does a Punnett square tell us when undertaking a Mendelian genetic cross between two breeding lines of plants?
(5) Why are pink carnations pink? How do they come to be?
(6) If I (O positive) were in a car accident while crossing route 1 on my way to class and needed a transfusion to survive, could Todd (A positive) from our class give me a quart of his blood? What about Sarah who is O negative? And please explain why to both.
(7) If Mount St. Helens erupted and wiped out the entire town of Spokane Washington, do you think this might lead to genetic drift in the gene pool for humans here?
(8) What is a founder effect?
(9) What are some evidences for the Bolide Impact?
(10) What conditions are optimal for an adaptive radiation to happen much like the one that diversified mammels following the destruction of the dinosaurs?