The lumper potatoes that were grown in Ireland during the 1800s were essentially clones of one another. They all had the same ge
netic makeup. So, when a potato blight disease began infecting the potatoes, it spread to all potatoes equally. How could greater genetic diversity have lessened the devastation of the potato blight? A. Some potatoes would be more likely to have a genetic resistance to the disease and survive. B. The potatoes would have been able to trade genes so that they could survive the disease. C. More of the potatoes would have been edible varieties. D. None of the potatoes would have been infected by the disease.
Cancer is caused by changes to certain genes that alter the way our cells function. Some of these genetic changes occur naturally when DNA is replicated during the process of cell division. But others are the result of environmental exposures that damage DNA.
