6.7 Are there treatments for AIDS and TB?

Question 1

Known antiretroviral drugs

Answer 1

• reverse transcriptase inhibitors - prevent viral RNA from making DNA for integration into the host’s genome
• protease inhibitors- inhibit the proteases that catalyse the cutting of larger proteins into small polypeptides for use in the construction of new viruses

Question 2

Bactericidal

Answer 2

A term used to describe substances
which kill bacteria. Killing is essential for
sterilisation so antiseptics and disinfectants are
bactericidal. Although some of the antibiotics
used to combat disease are bactericidal, many
are bacteriostatic. Bacteriostatic antibiotics prevent bacteria from multiplying and enable the
body’s natural defences to destroy those already
present.

Question 3

Bacteriostatic

Answer 3

Bacteriostatic substances do not
kill bacteria but prevent them from multiplying.
Many of the antibiotics used to combat disease
are bacteriostatic. By preventing bacteria from
multiplying, they enable the body’s natural
defences to destroy those already present.

Question 4

Conjugation

Answer 4

A process that occurs in bacteria in
which DNA is passed from one cell to another.
A minute projection from one cell, called a pilus,
forms a bridge to a second cell. DNA is
transferred through this pilus.