Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 1/7/2008

Question
well recently, my ap bio teacher enlightened us with a film on rna I . I found this to be profoundly interesting. However, the film was very vague since it targeted a less educated(in biology) audience. This is just a little side question that i felt like asking... in hopes that you can help guide me to new ideas and potential pathways that this new discovery paves.

DNA TEST tips <- my teacher has given us a huge amounts of material on DNA(molecular genetics of prokaryotes and viruses, eukaryotic genome, recombinant dna, the typical protein synthesis and dna replication) <-- just a quick idea of what were doing... i would like to know what you would focus on if you were my ap bio teacher. Im worried about knowing the history behind the discoveries and the experiments that were carried to prove the semi conservative model etc... i understand if you cant really tell me which areas to focus on because all teachers focus on different things.
these are a list of things i really dont understand =/
1- do operons only occur in prokayrotic cells?
2- F plasmids? conjugation? F factor HFR cell? R plasmid?
3- what is the selfish gene (transposons = jumping gene?)
4- i have a few quesiton on operons

basically im in distress here because im overwhelmed by the material
haha and i dont know what else to do since most of my other classmates only understand as much as i do or less.

if u dont feel like answering all those random questions then please give me more advice on how to approach studying for biology and understanding concepts

Answer
Dear Jonathan,

I'm glad you're enjoying your genetics lessons. :)  I'll take your questions one at a time:

> I would like to know what you would focus on if you were
> my ap bio teacher.

This is one I can't answer.  I'm not psychic, and don't know anything about your teacher, so the best way to find this out is to ask the teacher.

1- do operons only occur in prokayrotic cells?

As far as we know, yes.  Operons, defined as groups of genes transcribed together for the same process, are found only in prokaryotes.

2- F plasmids? conjugation? F factor HFR cell? R plasmid?

What are your questions?

3- what is the selfish gene (transposons = jumping gene?)

The "selfish gene" is a term coined by Richard Dawkins, who hypothesized that our bodies are basically just bags of chemicals designed to do the bidding of our genes, whose main (perhaps only) purpose is to get themselves into the next generation.  (You might find his book, The Selfish Gene, very interesting.)

This is different from transposable genetic elements, which are fragments of DNA that can excise themselves from the chromosomes and insert elsewhere, often affecting the expression of the gene into which they insert.

4- i have a few questions on operons

And they are...?

The best person to ask these questions is your teacher, though.  This is what s/he's being paid for, and you will get a better idea of what will be on the exam if you ask the person who's writing it--not me.

I'd strongly recommend that you make an appointment to meet with your teacher--or maybe ask for an all-class review session, since your classmates seem to be as overwhelmed as you are.  Get a group of students together to meet with the teacher to ask for a review.  Ask nicely, tell the instructor that the subject is interesting, but that there's so much that you're all feeling a bit overwhelmed.  If the instructor is a good instructor, then s/he will make every effort to help you understand the material.

Failing that, you might try to enlist a tutor who can go over the material more slowly and in depth than your teacher can do in a class period.

Good luck!

Dana