Exploring Endogenous Retroviruses and Our Common Ancestry with Chimps

Before the discovery of evolution, how did scientists view the relationship between humans and chimpanzees?

• As different species with no common traits

• As identical species

• As similar but different since the dawn of time

• As completely unrelated species

What is the gold standard for determining family relationships in a court of law?

• Blood type

• DNA evidence

• Eye color

• Fingerprint analysis

What is a retrovirus?

• A type of white blood cell

• A genetic mutation

• A special type of virus that inserts its genes into a cell's DNA

• A type of bacteria

What happens if a retrovirus infects a sperm or egg cell?

• The child will be immune to the virus

• The virus cannot infect reproductive cells

• The resulting child will have a copy of the virus DNA in every cell

• The virus is immediately destroyed

What term do scientists use for a retrovirus that becomes a permanent part of a species' DNA?

• Exogenous retrovirus

• Inactive virus

• Endogenous retrovirus

• Mutated virus

How many endogenous retrovirus segments are found in the human genome?

• Hundreds

• Thousands

• Millions

• Billions

What did scientists find when they compared the unique flanking DNA sequences of retrovirus insertions in humans and chimps?

• No similarities

• 205 out of 214 insertions were in the same locations

• All insertions were different

• A few similarities

What is the probability of humans and chimps having the same virus genes in identical locations by coincidence?

• Less than 1 in the number of all atoms in the observable universe

• 1 in 10 million

• 1 in 1000

• 1 in 10

What does the study of endogenous retroviruses independently confirm?

• That fossils are unreliable

• That viruses cannot affect DNA

• That humans and chimps share a common ancestor

• That humans and chimps are unrelated

How well established is the evolutionary mechanism by which life has spread across the planet?

• It is just a theory

• It is as well established as gravity

• It is likely to be disproven

• It is not supported by DNA evidence