Q 01/05

What does DNA stand for?

A) Dioxynucleic acid

B) Deoxyribose nucleic agent

C) Diribonucleic acid

D) Deoxyribonucleic acid

Answer · why

D) Deoxyribonucleic acid

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid; the 'deoxy' refers to its sugar, 2-deoxyribose, which is ribose missing one oxygen atom.

Q 02/05

Which living ape, along with the bonobo, is humanity's closest relative by DNA?

A) Chimpanzee

B) Gorilla

C) Orangutan

D) Gibbon

Answer · why

A) Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee DNA is almost 99% identical to ours where the two can be lined up, yet that small gap still adds up to tens of millions of single-letter di...

Q 03/05

Which three components make up a single DNA nucleotide?

A) Base, sugar, and phosphate group

B) Sugar, protein, and lipid

C) Phosphate group, fatty acid, and amino acid

D) Amino acid, sugar, and lipid

Answer · why

A) Base, sugar, and phosphate group

Base, sugar, and phosphate group: the sugars and phosphates link into each strand's backbone, so only the order of the bases is left to carry the gene...

Q 04/05

Which base takes thymine's place in RNA?

A) Uracil

B) Xanthine

C) Adenine

D) Hypoxanthine

Answer · why

A) Uracil

Uracil takes thymine's place in RNA; a likely reason DNA uses thymine instead is that cytosine can decay into uracil, so a distinct base lets repair e...

Q 05/05

In a DNA molecule, Adenine (A) always pairs with which other base?

A) Guanine (G)

B) Cytosine (C)

C) Uracil (U)

D) Thymine (T)

Answer · why

D) Thymine (T)

Adenine always pairs with thymine; Erwin Chargaff found in the late 1940s that DNA's amounts of A and T, and of G and C, are always equal, a clue Wats...