Answer to Question #46926 in Molecular Biology for Tenaya

Question

I give you four samples and tell you they are lysine (an amino acid), lactose (a disaccharide), insulin ( a protein hormone), and RNA. The sample are in test tubes marked 1,2,3 and 4, but you don't know which compound is in which tube. you need to identify the contests of each tube.
A. in your 1st test, your try to hydrolyze a portion of the contents of each tube. Hydrolysis occurs In all tubes except tube 3
B. in your next test, you find that tubes 1,2, and 3 are positive for nitrogen but only tube 2 gives a positive result for the presence of sulfur.
C. The Last test you perform shows that the compound in tube 1 contains a high percentage of phosphate.
based on these data, what was the content of each test tube

Answer 1

Based on information in C we see the presence of RNA in tube 1. The information from B about positive result for the presence of sulfur in tube 2 gives us evidence that we have insulin there. Then we can suppose there is lysine in tube 3 because this tube is positive for nitrogen. So, finally we observe there is lactose in tube 4.