PrepTest 145, Section 1, Question 26
The French biologist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744–1829) outlined(453 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(16 more words not shown)
- AScientists have succeeded(17 more words not shown)
- BThe patterns of(21 more words not shown)
- CThe process by(18 more words not shown)
- DFossil remains show(8 more words not shown)
- EIt is known(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Steele needs more than evidence that immune cells mutate. His mechanism requires the acquired information to reach reproductive cells and alter their DNA, allowing it to be inherited. Evidence for any uncertain step could strengthen the account even without proving the whole sequence.
What we’re looking for
The proposed virus is a particularly useful place to test it: can a virus carrying new DNA actually change reproductive-cell DNA?
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This demonstrates that proposed link in laboratory mice. A virus carrying new DNA alters DNA in reproductive cells, supporting the feasibility of the carrier-and-replacement step. It does not prove that Steele's entire immune-system sequence naturally occurs, but strengthening does not require complete proof.
- B
Finding similar mutation patterns in another system does not show that acquired information was transferred into reproductive DNA. It extends the observation without establishing the mechanism Steele uses to explain it.
- C
Random trial and error describes the development of immune defenses. The disputed further claim is that acquired changes can become hereditary. This does not connect the immune changes to reproductive cells.
- D
Longer giraffe necks over time show a change, not how it happened. That observation does not distinguish inheritance of acquired changes from other evolutionary explanations.
- E
Passing an immunity to a chick is not itself evidence that the parent's acquired change was incorporated into reproductive DNA. For example, transferring protective material could help offspring without establishing Steele's genetic mechanism. The choice does not supply that missing link.
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