Skip to main content
Ch. 20 - Recombinant DNA Technology

Chapter 19, Problem 9

Which of the examples of genetic testing below are prognostic tests? Which are diagnostic?

DNA sequencing of a breast tumor reveals mutations in the BRCA1 gene.

Verified Solution
Video duration:
3m
This video solution was recommended by our tutors as helpful for the problem above.
363
views
Was this helpful?

Video transcript

Hi, everyone. Welcome back. Here's our next question. It says triple negative. Breast cancer comprises 15 to 20% of all breast cancer cases and affects women with a mutation in the B R C A one gene more than other breast cancers, TNBC is breast cancer that lacks or shows low levels of. Well, we'll want to recall what characterizes triple negative breast cancer. And to do that, we want to remember that all breast cancer tumors are classified as one of four different classifications. So I'm going to put that up here and those are estrogen receptor, positive progesterone receptor positive H E R two over expression positive h er to being human epidermal growth factor receptor two and triple negative. And as we can see, looking at our names, we've got three positives here. Tumors that are positive for one of these three factors. And then our fourth classification, triple negative. So that just means negative for the other three classifications. So it's missing any of those three characteristics. Well, if we're thinking about negative or missing, um what we want to look at is that our, our problem here says TNBC is breast cancer that lacks or shows low levels of. So, since it's negative for these three things that are present, that's where we want to zoom in on for answer. And these classifications are very important because they represent whether a patient is a candidate for targeted therapies. So for instance, um estrogen receptor positive means the tumor has estrogen receptors on its surface. So therapies that would block estrogen from binding those receptors would treat that cancer and prevent that tumor from growing. So let's look at our answer. Choices here, Knowing that we want to look for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER two over expression as the things that triple negative breast cancer is lacking. So choice a says BRCA one gene mutation, estrogen receptor progesterone receptor. Well, We know here that women with the BRCA- one mutation are more likely to have triple negative breast cancer. So that would make that incorrect since we're looking for something that it lacks or shows low levels up. So that's not our answer. Choice. B says BRCA one gene mutation, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor two gene amplification. So that's not a correct answer because that also has that B R C A one gene mutation. So choice B is not correct. I see again, we see right away B R C A one gene mutation, estrogen receptor B R C A two gene mutation again, triple negative, more likely to have BRC one gene mutation. So choice C is not correct. So now we have Joyce D and it does say estrogen receptor progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor two gene amplification gene amplification. Of course, would mean the same thing as when we look at our classifications over expression. So choice d is going to be our correct answer describing triple negative breast cancer as lacking or showing low levels of estrogen receptor progesterone receptor and HER two amplification. See you in our next video.
Related Practice
Textbook Question

Which of the examples of genetic testing below are prognostic tests? Which are diagnostic?

An adult diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (AS) has a genetic test that reveals a SNP in the GABRB3 gene that is significantly more common in people with AS than the general population.

306
views
Textbook Question

Which of the examples of genetic testing below are prognostic tests? Which are diagnostic?

Individual sequencing (personal genomics) identifies a mutation associated with Alzheimer's disease.

202
views
Textbook Question

Which of the examples of genetic testing below are prognostic tests? Which are diagnostic?

ASO testing determines that an individual is a carrier for the mutant β-globin allele (βˢ) found in sickle-cell anemia.

321
views
Textbook Question

What are the advantages of using a restriction enzyme whose recognition site is relatively rare? When would you use such enzymes?

378
views
Textbook Question

Does genetic analysis by ASO testing allow for detection of epigenetic changes that may contribute to a genetic disorder? Explain your answer.

254
views
Textbook Question

In 1975, the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA was organized by Paul Berg, a pioneer of recombinant DNA technology, at a conference center at Asilomar State Beach in California. Physicians, scientists, lawyers, ethicists, and others gathered to draft guidelines for safe applications of recombinant DNA technology. These general guidelines were adopted by the federal government and are still in practice today. Consider the implications of recombinant DNA as a new technology. What concerns might the scientific community have had then about recombinant DNA technology? Might those same concerns exist today?

549
views