Final answer:
To address Lucy's defective ADA enzyme, we form a hypothesis about which designed mutation might affect its function. The process involves understanding the enzyme's structure and how mutations can alter its activity. Revising or accepting this hypothesis will depend on experimental data.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hypothesis Construction and Testing
To choose a mutation causing Lucy's ADA enzyme not to work, we must first construct a hypothesis based on available data. Selecting one of the designed mutations requires an understanding of how ADA functions and the relationship between its structure and activity. The hypothesis can be informed by knowledge of the enzyme's active site, substrate interaction, and overall protein folding.
Moreover, the question about the enzyme mutation in DNA replication is essential for understanding the mechanism behind the bacterium's daughter cells with replicated DNA errors. It suggests that the parent bacterium likely acquired a mutation in the DNA polymerase or a related enzyme involved in DNA replication fidelity.
An alternate hypothesis for hereditary muscle weakness could involve mutations in genes coding for structural proteins like dystrophin or proteins involved in muscle metabolism. Testing such a hypothesis might involve genetic screening and functional assays of muscle tissue.
When evaluating the claim that LDH-C is the most recently evolved form of the enzyme in both the African frog and humans, one would need to review phylogenetic data and possibly carry out comparative genetic analyses.
Scientists must often accept or modify their hypotheses based on experimental data, a critical step in empirical investigation. If data supports the hypothesis, additional experiments can extend the findings; if not, the hypothesis must be revised.
To investigate environmental selection pressures like changing temperatures at the cellulase locus, a biologist should perform comparative analyses of cellulase gene sequences and enzyme activity under different temperature conditions.
In the event structural changes are observed in an enzyme due to a specific mutation, one must comment on how that mutation alters the enzyme's conformation affecting its function.