Mary-Claire King — Questions and answers
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Who announced the discovery of the BRCA1 gene in 1990?
Choices
- A. Geneticist Mary-Claire King ✓
- B. The University of California, Berkeley
- C. An environmental scientist
- D. A new cancer patient
Answer: A. Geneticist Mary-Claire King
From page 1
What was Mary-Claire King's big, new idea about hereditary breast cancer?
Choices
- A. That it was always caused by germs.
- B. That many different genes all work together to cause it.
- C. That just one main gene could be responsible for it. ✓
- D. That it was only caused by things in the environment.
Answer: C. That just one main gene could be responsible for it.
From page 3
What special method did Mary-Claire King use to help find the gene for hereditary breast cancer?
Choices
- A. She looked for clues in old books.
- B. She asked people to guess where the gene was.
- C. She used 'linkage analysis' to track how the disease and genetic markers were passed down in families. ✓
- D. She waited for the gene to show itself.
Answer: C. She used 'linkage analysis' to track how the disease and genetic markers were passed down in families.
From page 4
After many years, King's team found a strong link between inherited breast cancer and which chromosome?
Choices
- A. Chromosome 1
- B. Chromosome 10
- C. Chromosome 17 ✓
- D. Chromosome 23
Answer: C. Chromosome 17
From page 6
Besides discovering BRCA1, what other important work did Mary-Claire King do for human rights?
Choices
- A. She wrote children's stories about genes.
- B. She helped find missing people and reunite families using DNA. ✓
- C. She designed new clothes for scientists.
- D. She invented a new kind of microscope.
Answer: B. She helped find missing people and reunite families using DNA.
From page 10