Reference no: EM132416834

Huntington's Disease:

1) You are studying which of the multiple steps in gene expression you could tweak in order to produce a normal version of the huntingtin protein despite having the allele with the mutation. Which step in gene expression would be the most promising?

2) The protein produced by Huntington's disease (huntingtin) interferes with general transcription factor (called CBP) and prevents it from binding the promoter. CBP activates genes involved in cell survival. i) Which step in gene expression is huntingtin preventing? ii) In the presence of huntingtin, are the genes activated by CBP expressed? Explain. iii) could this effect be produced in a prokaryote, why?

3) The mutation for Huntington's disease appears to have originated in Western Europe, with a prevalence of 7 in 100,000 people. However, an isolated population in Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, of European descent, have an increased prevalence of 700 in 100,000. Which population genetics phenomenon could be responsible for this?

4) Huntington's disease affects individuals late into adulthood. Given what you know about how Natural Selection works, explain why Huntington's disease hasn't been eradicated from the population.

5) What would happen to a patient with Huntington's if you somehow manage to block the promoter region of the huntingtin gene?