CRITICAL thinking questions.

1. In treating a woman for malignancy in the left breast, the surgeon removes some of her axillary lymph nodes. Following surgery, the patient experiences edema of her left arm. Explain why.

2. Anti-B antibodies of a typeA mother rarely affect the RBCs of a type B fetus. Yet anti-D antibodies of an Rh- woman sometimes cross the placenta and hemolyze the RBCs of an Rh+ fetus. Explain this difference based on your knowledge of the five immunoglobulin classes.

3. How does the structure of a B cell differ from that of a plasma cell? Explain how their structural difference relates to their functional difference.

4. Explain the relationship among the following terms: genomics, proteomics, gene, protein, genotype, and phenotype.
5. Compare the structure and functions of DNA and RNA.

6. Summarize the goal of the Human Genome Project and discuss three new fields of science that have developed from this research.

7. You are a public health official trying to determine the identity of the pathogen circulating within your city. Explain which genetic technologies would be most useful in this process.