Gene expression pipeline Discussion

Inspired by your Human Biology class, you have become a world-renowned scientist (we are so proud to know you!) You have discovered a gene, which you have named zippy, that when mutated is responsible for a form of cancer that has an extremely high mortality rate. The protein produced by the mutant form of zippy is half as active as the normal (non-mutated) form.

At which point along the gene expression pipeline is the zippy gene dysregulated? In other words, where exactly does the problem occur that causes the mutant form of zippy?

What is a likely function of the protein produced by the normal (non-mutated) version of the zippy gene? Please explain your answer using the information provided in the prompt.

Why are cancers so dangerous? What would cause a cancer to have a high mortality rate?

4. As a world-renowned scientist, you have limitless funds and resources at your disposal. Please propose and explain a solution to prevent or cure this cancer. The sky is the limit here! You may go in any direction, as long as your answer does not violate our current understanding of biology (so, you cannot just make-up a new organelle that does not exist in real life!)

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.