VCU Bioinformatics and Bioengineering Summer Institute
Introduction to Molecular Biology - Questionnaire

Part I: Basic information

Your name 

Part II: Strategy of Life
1. Do you see how DNA can specify the nature of an organism simply by specifying when and where specific proteins are present in cells?

2. Are you comfortable with the notions of hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, and amphipathicity (though not necessarily with how the terms roll off the tongue)?

3. Do you see how membranes can self assemble?

4. Do you understand the relationship between the major biological polymers and monomers?

5. Do you understand how the structure of metabolism enables us to convert the substance of other organisms into our own substance?

6. List any topics or study questions in this section you'd like us to go over.

7. Comments/requests on this section? 

Part IV: Protein

8. Are you comfortable with what a protein is in chemical terms?

9. Do you understand the distinction between the four levels of protein structure (primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary)? 

10. Do you see how the structure of a protein determines its function?  

11. Do you see how the structure of a protein determines its location?  

12. Can you make the connection between mutations in DNA and specific types of mutations in protein (and how they can affect protein function?  

13. List any topics or study questions in this section you'd like us to go over.

14. Comments/requests on this section? 

Part V: DNA, RNA, and Translation (no notes for this section)
Now that I've made the questions, I must say that I'm not sure how effective such a list is -- how do you know what level of understanding is appropriate? Nonetheless, here we go.

15. How comfortable are you with the structure of DNA? 
     (e.g. nature of base ratios, 3-dimensional structure of DNA)

16. How comfortable are you with how DNA is replicated? 
     (e.g. semiconservative replication, requirement for primer)

17. Do you understand the roles of the three major types of RNAs - mRNA, rRNA, tRNA? 

18. Can you effectively use the genetic code to predict from a DNA sequence (and a given start site) the amino acid sequence of a protein? 

20.Comments/requests on this section? 

Part III: Miscellaneous
21. What's the story with volley ball? Did it work on Monday? Any intention of doing it again? (I couldn't make it because I had to pick up child). 

22. Did the meeting with your new advisor go well? 

23. Comments, concerns, questions? (e.g. is this too much?)

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