Researchers Are Trying to Make a Genetically Modified (GM) Pig

question 10

Multiple Choice

Researchers are trying to make a genetically modified (GM) pig that expresses bovine (cow) growth hormone to make it grow bigger. They isolated the bovine growth hormone gene, cut it and a plasmid with the same restriction enzyme, and mixed them together. They inserted the mixture into pig zygotes, but only normal pigs, not GM pigs, grew. What did they likely do wrong?

• A) They are trying to make a GM animal, which is impossible.
• B) They forgot to add DNA ligase after mixing the plasmid and gene together.
• C) They should have used different restriction enzymes to cut the plasmid and the gene.
• D) They forgot to use PCR and make multiple copies of the growth hormone gene.

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Definitions:

Interval Estimate

A range of values, calculated from sample data, that is likely to include the true value of a population parameter.

Sample Statistic

A numerical measurement describing some characteristic of a sample, such as the mean or variance.

Sample Mean

The mean of a collection of numbers, determined by summing all the numbers in the set and then dividing by the count of the numbers.

Population Mean

The average of a set of characteristics (such as age, weight) of every member of a population.