Designer Genesand Heredity

2018-2019

Surya TumbapuraAlex DeWalle

About us…

Surya Tumbapura

- Sophomore at North Carolina State University- NCSO ambassador and Event leader - I was a previous competitor in high school as well as state champion

Anatomy & Physiology as well as Microbe Mission in 2017- 7 year competitor through middle and high school - NFL and NBA fan, go Giants!

About us...

Alex DeWalle

- Freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill- First year NCSO ambassador and assistant event leader- I competed all throughout high school and was the

2018 Microbe Mission state champion

Veteran Experience- Both Surya and Alex were captains of their respective high school teams during their senior years of high school- Surya led the Enloe Science Olympiad Team to the 2017 Science Olympiad National Tournament in Dayton, OH- Alex led the Raleigh Charter Science Olympiad Team to the 2018 Science National Tournament in Fort Collins, CO- Both of us began from humble beginnings and did not expect to be able to fulfill our dreams of being able to compete at the national level.- ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Event Description

Both Heredity and Designer Genes involve competitors being able to utilize their knowledge of genetics and its principles to answer questions or analyze data in order to measure their proficiency and mastery of the subject material.

- Participants in Designer Genes(C) will be expected to know basics of molecular genetics and biotechnology as stated in the official rules guide.

See official rules for further specifications

General Event DetailsNumber of Competitors per Team : 2

Event Parameters: Each team may bring only ONE 8.5 x 11 two-sided page of information in any form from any source and up to two non-programmable, non-graphing calculators. You may NOT bring in two one-sided sheets UNLESS they are stapled together or you have a single page protector to keep them in. Otherwise, you will be asked to discard one of those sheets prior to the start of the event. There are no exceptions to this rule, as we frequently encountered this situation during last year’s competition season.

Approximate Time: 40-50 mins for Regionals, 50-60 mins for State

Rules

● For both divisions, please refer to the official rules manual released by the National Science Olympiad organization.

● For the regional level, we guarantee that we will NOT be asking any questions regarding national-level topics. In other words, ALL regional level content will be NON-NATIONAL.

Rules cont.● 2 teams from division B and 2 teams from division C will represent the state of North Carolina at

the National Science Olympiad Tournament in May, 2019. With that being said, it is important to

note that while the majority of the state level questions will consist of non-national topics, we cannot guarantee an absence of national-level topics.

● Surya and Alex have both competed at the national level and recognize that in order for the state

level to be a true segue to the national level of difficulty, there is no guarantee that national level

topics will not be included.

● We believe in the best interest of all competitors, including those that will not necessarily be

competing at the national tournament. Therefore, even though we cannot guarantee an absence of

national-level topics, we will make an effort to ensure that the vast majority of the questions at the

state tournament will be NON-NATIONAL.

Types of Questions● Questions will be specifically chosen to test the competitor’s knowledge and

proficiency in genetics and heredity. The majority of regional tournaments will use the exact same regional level test that we write, but we cannot guarantee that there will not be some anomalies.

● Some regional tournaments may use our exam but put their own spin on it. They may incorporate more or less diagrams, use a sit down packet format instead of many stations, etc. This information is based on your regional level event coordinator for Heredity/Designer Genes. Nevertheless, while their test may not be identical to ours, all of the content will be based on what we write.

● Since we are directly in charge of writing and running the event at the state level, we can guarantee what you will expect at that stage.

Types of Questions cont.

● Typically, a method of testing genetic understanding is by the use of diagram labeling as well as asking the function of a labeled part.

● Understanding of basic principles of genetics is evaluated through a series of multiple choice and free response questions that are related to the main functions and details regarding various genetic/cell cycle topics

● Questions may also be used to test the student’s ability to be able to analyze data and perform a calculation

● Students should also have knowledge of a few basic processes and tests: test cross, gel electrophoresis, DNA/protein synthesis, cell cycle, plasmid cloning

List of TopicsThe topics for this years events include:● Monohybrid cross● Dominant & Recessive Alleles● Genotype vs. Phenotype● Human sex determination● Gene & Protein relationship● Mitosis, Meiosis & gamete formation● Human karyotype analysis● Components of a gene (Div C)● Mechanism of DNA replication (Div C)● Mechanism of Gene expression (Div C)● Protomer Structure (Div C)● Molecular consequences of mutations (Div C)● Organelle DNA (Div C)

● Dihybrid cross● Sex-linked traits● Pedigree Analysis● Multiple Alleles● DNA structure and replication● Transcription and Translation● Codominance & Incomplete Dominance● Sanger sequencing (Div C)● DNA fingerprinting & RFLP analysis (Div C)● Gene therapy, CRISPR (Div C)● DNA microarrays (Div C)● Plasmid cloning, selection and isolation (Div

C)● Phylogenetics (Div C)

Expectations at Regionals vs. State

REGIONALS:

- Expect a few diagrams/pictures.- Question format can vary between short answer and multiple choice.- May or may not have specifically indicated tie-breaker questions.- Potentially could be in the format of 20 stations, 2 of which are rest stations

with no questions.- Potentially could be a sit down test (no stations).

Expectations at Regionals vs. State cont.

STATE:

- Expect a few diagrams/pictures.- NO misspelling penalty for short answer questions. As long as we understand

what you are trying to convey and it matches what the correct answer is, we will give you full points.

- May or may not have specifically indicated tie-breaker questions.- Both single answer and multiple select questions. For example, you could be

asked to select all of the correct statements from a given set of them or pick the one correct answer for a given question.

Tiebreaker Logistics

- Tiebreakers may or may not be specifically indicated on the exam.- The priority of the tiebreakers will not be known to the participants and will be

selected before the administration of the exam.- The first priority that separates tied-teams will be MOST tiebreaker questions

correct. - In the event that two teams are tied even after the first priority of tie-breaking,

then we will proceed in a predetermined order of specific tiebreaker questions or combinations that typically will break the tie somehow in a fair manner.

Example of Tiebreaking

Team Kyrie Irving scored 75 points while getting 3 tie-breaker questions correct.

Team LeBron James scored 75 points while getting 7 tie-breaker questions correct.

Team Kevin Durant scored 75 points while getting 2 tie-breaker questions correct.

Team LeBron James will win the tie, with Team Kyrie Irving in second place and Team Kevin Durant in 3rd

place.

Expectations at Regionals vs. State cont.

STATE cont.:

- Potentially 10 stations with 1 rest station (no questions). - Anywhere from around 5-8 questions per station with 5 minutes per station. - You will be notified if there are any egregious changes to the following format

Expectations at Regionals vs. State cont.STATE cont.:

- We will be more reasonable with the workload and timing this year. Even though we ended up with a good standard distribution of scores and not too many ties that were easily broken, we observed a general struggle to be able to finish the test in a timely manner. Therefore, we desire to refine it this year so that competitors will find it more comfortable to compete in and exhibit more confidence during the event.

- There will be a greater ratio of multiple-choice questions to short answer questions in comparison to last year’s test in helping to make the event more reasonable.

Recommendations

● Work with your partner!!!

● Divide up information to study between you and your partner

● Utilize the training handouts and powerpoints on the Heredity and Designer Genes page

on the soinc.org website

● Obtain any heredity or molecular genetics textbooks or information pamphlets

● Learn to pace yourselves

● Take it slowly. Learning all of the information at once is not efficient. This is a vast

event.

● Check the event description and guidelines on the NCSO website. These pages have

websites and other resources that may be of use as well, in addition to previous

regional and state level questions.

Practice Questions

1. How many pairs of chromosomes do humans possess?2. Describe what a karyotype would look like in an individual with trisomy 21?3. What is the name of the diagram you would draw to compute a monohybrid

cross?4. Who is the father of genetics?5. How many pages of notes are you allowed for this event?

Activity

Pipe-Cleaner Chromosome Activity

http://www.researchandteaching.bio.uci.edu/TA%20Training%20Documents/Independent%20TAs/Activity%20Pipe%20Cleaner%20Chromosomes.pdf