What is the most likely explanation of why the overall mutation rates in bacteria and in humans are roughly similar?

(a) Cell division needs to be fast.
(b) Most mutations are silent.
(c) There is a narrow range of mutation rates that offers an optimal balance between keeping the genome stable and generating sufficient diversity in a population.
(d) It benefits a multicellular organism to have some variability among its cells.


Choice (c) is the correct answer. Choice (b) is true but cannot explain the similar mutation rate.

Biology & Microbiology

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Ancestors of the Galàpagos finches had two different types of seeds to eat on some islands. Some seeds were very small, and required small beaks to handle, other seeds were very large and required large strong beaks to crack. This led to among the Galàpagos finches.

A. disruptive selection B. stabilizing selection C. directional selection D. sexual selection E. artificial selection

Biology & Microbiology

Splicing together DNA from 2 different organisms is called:a

bioengineering. b. in vitro gene technology. c. biotechnology. d. recombinant DNA technology. e. genetic engineering.

Biology & Microbiology

Complementary base pairs are held together by

A) disulfide bonds. B) peptide bonds. C) covalent bonds. D) hydrogen bonds. E) ionic bonds.

Biology & Microbiology

Bacteria that CANNOT grow in the presence of oxygen are called ________

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Biology & Microbiology