Define microsatellite.
Important Questions on Patterns
Using genetic patterns to protect against poaching
Read the passage and answer the question that follow.
DNA and geography
We tend to see large differences between human populations. Scientific evidence, on the other hand, tells us that whether we divide ourselves up by nationality, ethnicity, or skin colour, genetically we're all pretty similar. Take two people from anywhere on Earth and you will find that more than 99.9% of the coding sequences in their DNA are the same. In other words, everything that makes us unique is concentrated in less than one one-thousandth of the genome.
Even within that tiny fraction of DNA that varies between people, the differences between populations aren't as dramatic as once thought. In fact, the overwhelming majority of genetic differences between individuals are just as variable within small populations as they are across the entire world. Comparatively speaking, only a small handful of genetic signatures are more common in some human populations than in others. The process of mutation is responsible for these small differences.
Microsatellites are non-coding sequences, consisting of short sequences of bases that are repeated. The repeats are adjacent to each other. So far no function has been found for these base sequences, so natural selection does not favour one version of a microsatellite over another. In particular, it seems to be of no consequence how many times the base sequence is repeated. Microsatellites are passed from parent to offspring, with the number of repeats usually remaining unchanged. However, compared with base changes in the coding sequences of our genomes, changes to the number of repeats in microsatellites occur far more frequently. Differences between populations therefore develop relatively rapidly and can be used to provide evidence of the separateness of populations.
Researchers can use these tiny slivers of our genetic code to predict where people come from. They accomplish this by using a computer program that analyzes hundreds of genetic sequences at once. By looking for patterns of microsatellites the researchers are able to make accurate statistical guesses about people's ancestries.
Microsatellites occur in other species and are increasingly being used to obtain evidence of origins. This can be extremely important, for example in the fight against elephant poaching in Africa. Illegal killing had fallen to very low levels in the 1990s due to a ban on trade in elephant ivory. Since then a weakening of resolve and failures by both national governments and the international community have allowed poaching to resume. The survival of one of our few remaining species of megafauna is once again threatened.
To try to combat poaching, a database of microsatellite profiles of elephant populations across the whole of Africa has been built up. Researchers obtained samples of feces from as many individuals in each population as possible. They extracted DNA from it and studied the lengths of its microsatellites. The data obtained allows microsatellite profiles of DNA extracted from ivory to be compared, so the elephant population from which tusks came can be identified.
Distinguish between genes and microsatellites.Using genetic patterns to protect against poaching
Read the passage and answer the question that follow.
DNA and geography
We tend to see large differences between human populations. Scientific evidence, on the other hand, tells us that whether we divide ourselves up by nationality, ethnicity, or skin colour, genetically we're all pretty similar. Take two people from anywhere on Earth and you will find that more than 99.9% of the coding sequences in their DNA are the same. In other words, everything that makes us unique is concentrated in less than one one-thousandth of the genome.
Even within that tiny fraction of DNA that varies between people, the differences between populations aren't as dramatic as once thought. In fact, the overwhelming majority of genetic differences between individuals are just as variable within small populations as they are across the entire world. Comparatively speaking, only a small handful of genetic signatures are more common in some human populations than in others. The process of mutation is responsible for these small differences.
Microsatellites are non-coding sequences, consisting of short sequences of bases that are repeated. The repeats are adjacent to each other. So far no function has been found for these base sequences, so natural selection does not favour one version of a microsatellite over another. In particular, it seems to be of no consequence how many times the base sequence is repeated. Microsatellites are passed from parent to offspring, with the number of repeats usually remaining unchanged. However, compared with base changes in the coding sequences of our genomes, changes to the number of repeats in microsatellites occur far more frequently. Differences between populations therefore develop relatively rapidly and can be used to provide evidence of the separateness of populations.
Researchers can use these tiny slivers of our genetic code to predict where people come from. They accomplish this by using a computer program that analyzes hundreds of genetic sequences at once. By looking for patterns of microsatellites the researchers are able to make accurate statistical guesses about people's ancestries.
Microsatellites occur in other species and are increasingly being used to obtain evidence of origins. This can be extremely important, for example in the fight against elephant poaching in Africa. Illegal killing had fallen to very low levels in the 1990s due to a ban on trade in elephant ivory. Since then a weakening of resolve and failures by both national governments and the international community have allowed poaching to resume. The survival of one of our few remaining species of megafauna is once again threatened.
To try to combat poaching, a database of microsatellite profiles of elephant populations across the whole of Africa has been built up. Researchers obtained samples of feces from as many individuals in each population as possible. They extracted DNA from it and studied the lengths of its microsatellites. The data obtained allows microsatellite profiles of DNA extracted from ivory to be compared, so the elephant population from which tusks came can be identified.
State how similar human beings are genetically.
The following patterns were developed from the website Mathisfun. Each orange object represents a cell. Within the simulation, when the cell divides it can take a turn. In the simulation, a turn of represents a turn, a turn of represents a turn, a turn of represents a turn.
Use the three images generated from the simulator to explain the leaf pattern in the Aloe plant.
The golden ratio is an irrational number approximately equal to1.62. It is argued to appear many times in human knowledge systems like geometry, art and architecture. The Ancient Greek mathematician Euclid wrote about it 2,300 years ago, though he did not use the“golden ratio”name. Some erroneously claim that the ratio applies in some situations where it doesn’t, such as in the Nautilis shell, and others state that it doesn’t apply when it does.
Show that the golden ratio applies to every pair of adjacent bones in the finger.
