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Q31·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2016

Bioinformatics and Transcriptome

S&TMolecular Biology and GenomicsFactual singleMediumStatic

Question

In the context of the developments in Bioinformatics, the term 'transcriptome', sometimes seen in the news, refers to

Options

a

a range of enzymes used in genome editing

b

the full range of mRNA molecules expressed by an organism

Answer
c

the description of the mechanism of gene expression

d

a mechanism of genetic mutations taking place in cells

Explanation

Transcriptome refers to the complete set of all mRNA molecules transcribed from the genome of an organism. It represents the functional expression of genes at any given time in a cell or tissue. Option (a) describes enzymes used in genome editing, which is not transcriptome. Option (c) describes the process, not the molecule itself. Option (d) refers to genetic mutations, which is distinct from transcriptome. Transcriptome is the collection of all mRNA transcripts produced from a genome, making it the most accurate definition of gene expression products at the molecular level.

Transcriptome = All mRNA expressed; Genome = All DNA present; Proteome = All proteins expressed

Answer: (b).

Question details

Year

2016

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q31

Subject

Science & Technology

Sub-topic

Molecular Biology and Genomics

Type

Factual single

Difficulty

Medium

Nature

Static

Source hint

Science & Technology 2015-2016

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