What term refers to a group of SNPs and other molecular markers on a chromosome that tend to be inherited together as a block?

Correct answer: A haplotype

Explanation

Haplotypes are a fundamental concept in population genetics and are used in human ancestry testing and genome-wide association studies. Because recombination between closely spaced markers is infrequent, blocks of markers (haplotypes) are inherited together, allowing researchers to trace ancestry and find associations with traits.

Other questions

Question 1

What term describes measurable changes in a population over time that do not result in the creation of new species, but can alter the population's appearance or behavior?

Question 2

Genetic variants in which biological pathway are shared by Sherpa and Tibetan populations, providing a physiological advantage for living at high elevations?

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a condition required for a population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, meaning no evolution is occurring?

Question 4

What term describes the evolutionary mechanism where a small fraction of a population separates to begin a new population, which may have a different genetic makeup from the original?

Question 5

The phenotypic differences in the pelvic fin of three-spine stickleback fish in deep versus shallow water are caused by a loss-of-function mutation in what type of genetic element?

Question 6

What is the correct definition of a paralog?

Question 7

Which statement accurately describes the relationship between genetic variation within and between human racial groups?

Question 9

The phenomenon where individuals preferentially select mates that are like themselves, which can amplify rare traits in a population, is known as what?

Question 10

What is the term for a nonfunctional gene that has arisen from the duplication and subsequent mutation of an ancestral gene?

Question 11

The reintroduction of a small number of wolves to Yellowstone National Park, resulting in a population with a much higher frequency of black coats (about 50 percent) than the source populations (less than 5 percent), is a classic example of what evolutionary mechanism?

Question 12

What is the primary function of a molecular clock in evolutionary biology?

Question 13

What is required to 'calibrate' a molecular clock for a more precise estimate of age?

Question 14

The comparison of human and mouse genomes reveals what about their protein-coding genes and genome structure?

Question 15

What is the term for gene flow that occurs between different species?

Question 16

Which of the following describes the accumulation of changes over a long period of time, including those significant enough to result in the creation of new species?

Question 17

What is the primary difference between evolution and acclimatization?

Question 18

Which evolutionary mechanism refers to random variations in allele frequencies that happen from generation to generation, and tends to be amplified in small populations?

Question 19

Human ancestry tests that trace maternal lineage and paternal lineage use which types of DNA, respectively, because they do not undergo recombination?

Question 20

According to the text, what is the scientific conclusion regarding the genetic separation of racial groups?

Question 21

What is the term for a group of related genes found in different species that are descended from a common ancestral gene?

Question 22

Which of the following processes is most likely to reduce the genetic differences between two partially isolated populations?

Question 23

What does genome synteny refer to in evolutionary genetics?

Question 24

The text states that inbreeding in dog breeds has led to an increased incidence of genetic disease. This is because inbreeding increases the likelihood of what?

Question 25

Human ancestry tests often analyze haplotypes. Why are haplotypes more informative for predicting ancestry than single SNPs?

Question 26

What evolutionary mechanism is exemplified by the presence of Neanderthal DNA in the genomes of many modern humans?

Question 27

What is the primary source of all new genetic variation in a population?

Question 28

Why are highly variable regions of the genome, like the mitochondrial D-loop, less useful for comparing relationships among distantly related species?

Question 29

Which of the following describes the bottleneck effect?

Question 30

What evolutionary pressure has likely led to lighter skin tones in human populations that migrated to areas nearer the poles?

Question 31

For speciation to occur, what must be minimized between two or more populations?

Question 32

The duplication of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in elephants is an example of the evolution of what?

Question 33

What is the term for a branch on an evolutionary family tree or cladogram?

Question 34

On a cladogram, what do shorter branches between two samples generally represent?

Question 35

The text discusses human migration and states that there is evidence of 'reverse migration'. What does this imply about human evolution?

Question 36

What is the primary reason that human ancestry testing companies have historically had more reference data for European populations than for other continents?

Question 37

Why are conserved regions of the genome less useful for establishing relationships within a single species?

Question 38

In the analogy of a coin flip used to describe genetic drift, why would you not expect to get one million heads in a row when flipping a coin one million times?

Question 39

Darwin's proposal of 'survival of the fittest' is the basis for which mechanism of evolution?

Question 40

According to the text, the loss of limbs in snakes is suggested to be linked to differences in what kind of genetic element compared to other vertebrates?

Question 41

What is linkage disequilibrium?

Question 42

The text describes an individual's physiological changes at high altitude, such as producing more red blood cells, as an example of what?

Question 43

Which of the following conditions must be met for a new allele to become fixed in a population and reach Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Question 44

What is a key difference between natural selection and genetic drift?

Question 45

The accumulation of mutations in a molecular clock needs to be 'calibrated' because the rate of mutation can differ based on which factors?

Question 46

Why are indigenous populations in the Americas and Pacific Islands more genetically homogenous than those in Africa?

Question 47

What is the primary evolutionary advantage for genetically diverse populations compared to genetically homogenous ones?

Question 48

What does it mean for a region of the genome to be 'highly conserved'?

Question 49

Large-scale structural variants, such as gene duplication, can lead to the formation of structurally related genes called what?

Question 50

When comparing the genomes of two individuals of the same race versus two individuals of different races, what is the likely outcome according to the text?