Extra questions Flashcards
Explain the meaning of the term stem cell. (2 Marks)
- undifferentiated cell
- that can give rise to other types of cell
- no limit to division
- correct reference to totipotent / pluripotent
Q: Human bone marrow contains stem cells that can give rise to various types of blood cell including white blood cells. Suggest how a stem cell in the bone marrow can become a differentiated blood cell. (4 Marks)
- stimulus e.g. chemical
- (causes) some genes active / some inactive (in bone marrow stem cell)
- only the active genes are transcribed
- (because) mRNA made (only at active genes)
- protein made
- which (determine) cell structure / function / permanently modifies cell
State three potential sources of human stem cells. (3 Marks)
- cord blood /umbilical cord / placenta
- fertilized egg / zygote / blastocyst / (early) embryo
- site within blastocyst
- bone marrow
- brain / connective / skin / liver cells
- addition of adult nucleus to enucleated egg cell
What is in vitro and in vivo? (2 Marks)
- In vitro - the technique of performing a given procedure in a controlled environment outside of a living organism.
- In vivo - experiment on a living subject.
Explain how the new cells become specialized and develop into neurons in the brain (4 Marks).
- genes (in the new cells) are activated / transcribed
- detail of transcription
- detail of translation
- proteins determine function / structure of cells
- cell processes form
- the new neurons are relay neurons
Explain how differential gene expression can enable cells which have the same genetic material to have very different structures and functions, and thus develop into different tissues/organs. (3 Marks)
- different genes active in different cells / different genes active at different times / some genes active / inactive
- active genes make mRNA
- active genes make proteins / polypeptides
- (proteins) control cell processes
- permanent change (to cell)
Ethic issues of using embryonic stem cells? Discuss how regulatory authorities control the use of embryonic stem cells in research. (3 marks)
- Monitoring research / ensuring research is necessary
- Issue licences for stem cell research
- Monitoring sources of stem cells
- Ensure that only early stage embryos are used as sources of stem cells
- Prevention of unethical use of stem cells
Suggest two reasons why there are regulating authorities for human embryo research. (2 Marks)
- decide on max age of embryo allowed for research
- setting or considering ethical / legal aspects / judging what is acceptable / follow a code
of practice - example of what is / is not acceptable
- checking that source of stem cells is acceptable
- stopping of cloning (of humans)
- appropriate reference to unnecessary repeating of research
Suggest why these regulating authorities should include people involved in human embryo research and people not involved in embryo research. (4 Marks)
People involved in embryo research
- being able to (fully) understand the science / recognize what is possible benefits / risks / judge in an informed manner
People not involved in embryo research
- giving a balanced /alternative / wider / named view
Q: State three differences between a group of embryonic stem cells and the cells in a tissue. (3 marks)
- Embryonic stem cells are totipotent / pluripotent and cells of a tissue are not
- Embryonic stem cells are undifferentiated / unspecialised and cells of a tissue are
differentiated / specialised - Cells of a tissue work together for a particular function and stem cells do not
- Stem cells are capable of continuous division / have no Hayflick limit and cells of a tissue
are not
State the levels of organization: (1 Mark)
- Cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organism
Give one difference between an organ and a tissue. (2 Marks)
- Organ has many functions; tissue has one fewer
- Organ has many/several cell types/tissues; tissue has one/fewer
Suggest one way in which tissues and organs are similar. (1 Mark)
- Both have cells working together/for the same function
Describe how a fertilized egg can be used as a source of human pluripotent stem cells. (3 Marks)
- Fertilized egg allowed to grow for a few days/divide several times
- Blastocyst/hollow ball of cells created
- Cells in inner cell mass are pluripotent. Cells are harvested by special procedure
- Source of fertilized egg e.g. spare embryo after IVF
Q: How are cells organized into tissues? (2 Marks)
- Specialized cells group into clusters
- Cells bind to each other, due to specific recognition proteins (adhesion molecules). These
extents out of the protein and they bind to other adhesion molecules on other cells (the molecules must be complementary in order to bind – thus these recognition proteins determine which cell can or cannot attach)
Suggest why stem cells can be used to reverse this paralysis. (2 Marks)
- stem cells being totipotent / pluripotent
- can specialize or differentiate / can give rise to differentiated / specialized cells
- these can replace damaged cells (in spinal cord of Dachshund) / new nervous tissue can
be formed - capable of continuous division / no Hayflick limit
Q: Suggest why, after testing a drug on tissue samples, the drug is also tested on whole animals. (3 Marks)
- the drug may have an effect on other tissues
- needing to find out effects on organs / systems / whole organism
- drug metabolism
- finding out whether drug is safe / toxic
Q: Explain why animals had to be used to test for example a vaccine. (2 Marks)
- need to use living nerve tissue
- vaccine contains live virus / virus may revert to virulence / virus causes disease in humans
Suggest one ethical issue in the use of chicken embryos in this investigation. (1 Mark)
- chicken (embryo) is a vertebrate / feels pain / will die / cannot give consent/
Q: Suggest the advantages of using mice as a “knock out” model in research compared with the use of humans. (2 Marks)
- control genetic make-up / these mice are homogeneous / humans have genetic variety
- this allows (one) gene function to be investigated
- drugs can be used which cannot be used / are unethical for use with humans /
- larger sample size can be used
Name one non-animal alternative that can be used in research and give an advantage of this alternative method. (2 Marks)
- tissue culture / computer modelling / use of humans / population studies
- reduce use of animals / no animals harmed / more ethical
: Explain why new medicines are tested on animals before they are tested on humans. (2 Marks)
- need to find out if the drug works / efficacy
- need to find out if the drug is safe / toxic / has side effects
- need to find the correct dose
Give one reason why some people believe that it is ethically unacceptable to use animals in medical research. (1 Mark)
- will feel pain / cruel / animals have rights / not given their consent / causes damage / harm / blindness / stress
Why not carry out experiments on humans? (2 Marks)
- Unethical
- More complex organisms
During the G1 phase of the cell cycle, some cells of the embryo become specialized. Describe the processes which cause a cell to become specialized. (4 Marks)
- correct stimulus e.g. chemical
- (stimulus) activates some genes / inactivates genes
- transcription / mRNA produced at active genes
- translation of mRNA produces protein /polypeptide
- this protein either permanently modifies cell or determines cell structure / function
Explain how molecular phylogeny could be used to determine the relationships between the different animal species? (2 Marks)
- (compare) sequences of bases in DNA /amino acids in proteins
- the more similarities in common the more closely-related the subspecies
Investigators used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to increase the quantity of DNA from samples. Describe how one PCR cycle would increase the quantity of DNA present. (4 Marks)
- heat to 90-98◦C to break hydrogen bonds between (DNA) strands / separate the strands of DNA
- joining of primers / annealing at 50-75◦C
- elongating / extension / addition of nucleotides / DNA polymerase involved in formation
of phosphodiester bonds - to double the quantity (of the DNA)
Explain how gel electrophoresis could be used to find out from which animal species the DNA comes from. (5 Marks)
- loading of electrophoresis tank
- current / potential difference applied across the gel
- use gene probe / DNA stain
- use of STRs / DNA of black panther
- compare bands / DNA profiles
- a match would indicate that (DNA from) a black panther was present
Explain how the results of DNA profiling of tissue samples from the different species could be used to provide evidence that they share common ancestry. (3 Marks)
- reference to bands produced
- reference to bands at certain positions
- common bands contain similar DNA fragments
- the more similar the patterns the closer the relationship / more likely to have recent
common ancestor - very few differences if still a sub-species
Q: Suggest how natural selection could have given rise to different adaptations shown within each different animal species. (5 Marks)
- idea of selection pressure / change in environment
- competition / predation
- Mutation occurs in the population
- idea of advantageous allele
- idea that individuals with advantageous alleles / characteristics survive and breed
- idea of (advantageous) allele / mutation being passed on (to future generations)
- increased frequency of advantageous alleles in the population
Q: What does polygenic mean? (2 Marks)
- A trait controlled by two or more genes
- at different loci on different chromosomes.
Define phenotype. (1 Mark)
- appearance of an organism due to the contribution of the genotype and environmental factors.
What does buffer means? (1 Mark)
- A buffer is a chemical substance that helps maintain a relatively constant pH in a solution, even in the face of addition of acids or bases.
Q: Why are biological systems buffered? (2 Marks)
- Buffering is important in living systems
- To maintain a fairly constant internal environment,
- also known as homeostasis
Q: What are biological buffers? (2 Marks)
- molecules that donate or accept protons
- to resist changes in pH as acids or bases are added to the solution.
Q: Explain what is meant by the term gene mutation. (2 Mark)
- change in DNA
- change / deletion / addition / duplication / substitution of bases / nucleotides
Q: Describe how a frameshift mutation could result in the production of a protein with a variety of shorter primary structures. (3 Marks)
- (adding or removing one or two nucleotides) changes the triplet code
- introducing a new start / stop codon
- coding for a shorter sequence of amino acids
Q: Explain how a single base mutation can lead to an altered primary structure of an enzyme. (3 Marks)
- changing a base results in a change in the triplet code
- this changes the codon(s) in the mRNA
- resulting in a different amino acid / amino acid sequence (in the primary structure)
Q: Explain what is meant by the term totipotent stem cell. (2 Marks)
- totipotent (stem cells) can give rise to all / any / 216 cell types
- (stem cells) are undifferentiated / unspecialized
Q: Suggest why injecting totipotent stem cells may benefit a person with a shortage of white blood cells. (1 Mark)
- they can give rise to white blood cells
Q: Suggest one risk to the person receiving the stem cells. (1 Mark)
- possible route to infection / rejection by recipient
Q: Cells stop dividing as they become specialized. Describe the processes that take place inside a cell during specialization. (4 Marks)
- genes would be activated / deactivated
- active genes transcribed / mRNA produced
- translation (of mRNA) to produce proteins
- idea that proteins modify cell / determine function of cell / structure of cell altered
permanently
Q: Specialized cells of an embryo become tissues and organs in the fetus. Give two differences between tissues and organs. (2 Marks)
- tissues made of cells and organs made of tissues
- tissues made of one type / similar types of cells AND organs made of different tissues
- organs have more functions than tissues
Q: Describe therapeutic cloning. (4 Marks)
- Take a cell from the patient (diploid)
- The nucleus of this cell fuses with an enucleated ovum (i.e. its haploid nucleus has been
removed) - this is known as somatic cell nuclear transfer - This new cell is now a diploid (like a zygote)
- Cell is then stimulated to undergo mitosis
- At the blastocyst stage, stem cells are isolated and encouraged to develop into tissues.
- This result in cell lines and eventually in organs for transplantation
- Somatic cell nuclear transfer is used to produce blastocysts from which human stem cells
are extracted.
Q: What is the difference between differentiation and development? (3 Marks)
- Cellular differentiation is the process where a cell changes from one cell type to another.
- the cell changes to a more specialized type.
- occurs numerous times during the development of a multicellular organism
- as it changes from a simple zygote to a complex system of tissues and cell types.
- Development is the process of growth
Q: Explain how cells produced from stem cells can have the same genes yet be of different types. (3 Marks)
- {Not all / different} genes are switched {on / off} /active / activated;
- Correct and appropriate reference to factors /mechanisms for gene switching;
- E.g. reference to promoters / transcription factors;