This paper shows the results of an experiment in which the effects of fibroblast growth factor (FGF), actinomycin D (Act D; an inhibitor of transcription), and cycloheximide (CHX; an inhibitor of translation) were studied on the expression of two genes: a gene called "Fnk" and the gene coding for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Serum-starved cells were incubated without treatment (sample 1) or treated with FGF for 2 h (samples 2 to 10). After FGF-stimulation, some of the cultures were further treated with actinomycin D (samples 3 to 6) or actinomycin D plus cycloheximide (samples 7 to 10) for various time-periods. Cytoplasmic RNAs were isolated from all cultures and subjected to Northern blot analysis using radioactively labelled Fnk and GAPDH cDNA probes. A problem-based test on the effect of fibroblast growth factor on gene expression is presented. (Contains 1 figure.)