A goat can produce milk containing the same polymers present in the silk produced by spiders when particular genes from a spider are inserted into the goat's genome. Which of the following reasons describes why this is possible?

(A) Goats and spiders share a common ancestor and, thus, produce similar protein excretions

(B) The opposite is true, too - when genes from a goat are inserted into a spider's genome, the spider produces goats' milk instead of silk.

(C) The proteins in goats' milk and spiders' silk have the same amino acid sequence

(D) The processes of transcription and translation in the cells of spiders and goats are fundamentally similar.

(E) The processes of transcription and translation in the cells of spiders and goats produce exactly the same proteins anyway.

Question

Azul Casey

Biology

4 September, 03:30

A goat can produce milk containing the same polymers present in the silk produced by spiders when particular genes from a spider are inserted into the goat's genome. Which of the following reasons describes why this is possible?

(A) Goats and spiders share a common ancestor and, thus, produce similar protein excretions

(B) The opposite is true, too - when genes from a goat are inserted into a spider's genome, the spider produces goats' milk instead of silk.

(C) The proteins in goats' milk and spiders' silk have the same amino acid sequence

(D) The processes of transcription and translation in the cells of spiders and goats are fundamentally similar.

(E) The processes of transcription and translation in the cells of spiders and goats produce exactly the same proteins anyway.

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Answers (1)

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Alonso · Answer 1

(D) The processes of transcription and translation in the cells of spiders and goats are fundamentally similar.

Explanation:

The genetic information present in the spider DNA can be inserted, transcribed and translated using similar machineries to that present in spiders. This produces the same protein, but the protein is likely processed and exported differently, meaning it plays different roles in each organism.

This is true for lots of scenarios, scientists frequently insert human genes into mice, and even cells in culture!