Please TYPE your answers on separate paper and attach this sheet as a cover sheet. Drawings may be neatly hand rendered and hand labeled. Read and sign the academic integrity statement below.

NOTE: We encourage people to work and study together, but the final product should be an INDIVIDUAL effort. Discuss and talk over questions together, but write up your answers by yourself after the study session. When you use diagrams or concept maps, create your own rather copying those from the text or lecture materials. Definitions and explanations should be in your words and not those of the textbook author or any other source.

Your job is to convince your instructor that YOU understand these ideas.

Work copied from others will not be accepted. Because answers will be posted on the web immediately after the due time, late work will not be accepted.

Academic Integrity in Biology 100/101

I have read and understand Part #4 of the University of Illinois Student Code, which deals with Academic Integrity.

Signature

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Please use the "Talk to Ed" forum in Moodle if you wish to discuss the assignment further.

Answers will be linked to the Take-Home Assignment web page shortly after this assignment is due.

Don't overlook the links to web resources and references to text pages below that might be useful in answering these questions. Activities in lecture, discussion, and laboratory classes will also address these questions.

Completion of these questions will help you achieve most of the objectives for lectures #14 and #15.

Introduction:

Beta Thalassemia is a common blood disorder. The product of the gene (HBB) is the beta globin chain of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin consists of 4 protein chains, two alpha globin and two beta globin chains.  The HBB gene is located on chromosome 11. The mutated, recessive allele results in a reduction of beta globin protein production. Children who are homozygous recessive are unable to produce beta globin, reducing the amount of complete hemoglobin they can produce.  This inhibits the development of functional red blood cells and leads to severe anemia and other medical problems.

The following links may be helpful as background information, but are not necessary to answer the question on this assignment.

Map of chromosome #11 Follow the directions to enlarge the upper end of the chromosome. Note the beta thalassemia locus listed 5th from the top on the right hand list of gene loci.

More information on beta thalassemia from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

Genetic testing for beta thalassemia

Question 1. Gene expression:(10 Pts)

Prepare a simple diagram and include labels and text to explain the expression of the dominant (normal) allele for the beta hemoglobin gene locus (HBB). Include and BOLD or HIGHLIGHT the terms in the table below in your diagram and text.

Your diagram should contain enough visual detail and/or textual explanation to convince your instructor that you truly do understand the relationship of each of the terms to the process of expression of the dominant beta hemoglobin allele.

Note: This MUST be YOUR OWN drawing, NOT a copy of a drawing from the web or your text book.
We will deduct major points if it is clear that your drawing is a version of this one from Access Excellence - or from any other print or web source, for that matter.

One half point for each term that is correctly illustrated and explained.

Question 2. Mutation: (10 Pts)

The DNA sequence above is an actual bit of the dominant hemoglobin beta gene (HBB). Note that the preceding and following "......s" represent preceding and following nucleotides. The letters included here are a very small part of the much larger gene.

Use this sequence to answer parts a, b, c, & d.

HINT: Typing your answer in a word processor and using copy/paste to edit the subsequent parts of this question will save you time and make scoring your answers more efficient and accurate.

a. Use the mRNA codon chart on the web or in your book, pg. 246 of the Life text to decode this bit of the gene. Write out the mRNA sequence that would be produced when the bottom DNA strand is transcribed (from left to right). Write the sequence of amino acids that would be produced when the resulting mRNA strand is decoded from left to right.

For parts (b, c, and d), include the following information:

1. the original DNA
2. your mutated DNA
3. the new mRNA strand
4. the new sequence of amino acids
5. a sentence or two naming the type of mutation and describing how the change affects the sequence of amino acids and the resulting structure and function of the protein (include this bit whether the amino acid sequence is changed or not)

b. Delete a single nucleotide base pair from the original DNA (Highlight or Bold the deleted section in the original DNA).

c. Change one nucleotide base pair someplace in the original DNA (Highlight or Bold the changed base pair).

d. Randomly insert one or more nucleotide base pairs in the original DNA (Highlight or Bold your inserted base pairs).