SECTION A (50% of total mark)
Candidates should answer at least one question; all questions are of equal weight.
1. Whole genome sequencing has opened up new opportunities in understanding the relationships between species. Discuss how sequence alignment of multiple genomes can give a superior perspective on evolutionary processes to the traditional pairwise or multiple alignments on single genes.
2. Discuss how protein microarrays have transformed our understanding of protein content in the cell. Your answer should consider how these microarrays are set up and also how they can be applied. Use examples where appropriate.
3. The figure below describes a simple sequence of reactions including a branching point where product Z controls a transcription factor (TF) involved in the expression of Enzyme E. Explain the various steps that the diagram describes, and produce a graph that shows how the concentrations vary over time.
SECTION B (50% of total mark)
Candidates should answer at least one question; all questions are of equal weight.
4. Explain what a microarray data is and how it can be used to identify and understand pathways that are involved in the pathology of cancer.
5. Personalised medicine involves the use of genetic data to help treat disease. Explain the advances in technology that have made this approach possible and the implications for disease treatment.
6. Compare and contrast the use of QPCR and mircoarrays to generate information about the effect of diseases on cells, highlighting why both are often used together to generate data.