Since bacteria cells can express human genes, we can use bacteria cells to produ
ID: 167530 • Letter: S
Question
Since bacteria cells can express human genes, we can use bacteria cells to produce human proteins for treating disease. What aspect of protein synthesis explains why bacteria cells can be used to express human genes?
A. The genetic code is redundant.
B. Both human cells and bacteria cells have plasmids.
C. Human ribosomes function correctly when they are inserted into bacteria cells.
D. The genetic code is nearly identical among all organisms.
E. The bacteria chromosome has the same sequence of DNA bases as human chromosomes.
Explanation / Answer
Choice D is correct.
Reason: The genetic code is universal in nature which means that everytime a genetic code is present in the DNA, it will encode for a specific amino acid in the organism. This holds true for all the organisms, ranging from lower bacteria to higher multi-cellular eukaryotes. This property of universal nature of genetic code ensures that the genetic code is nearly identical for all the organisms. This property of the genetic code has been exploited in the prokaryotes to over-express some eukaryotic genes and isolate the proteins. For example, the eukaryotic human gene insulin is translated in bacteria to islate insulin for clinical use.