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Biol 1080 > Midterm 1 > Flashcards

Midterm 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Define systems biology

A

the systematic study of complex interactions in biological systems

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2
Q

What is the main goal of systems biology

A

to better understand the entirety of the process that happen in biological system

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3
Q

What are the two components that systems biology considers

A

interactions and dynamics

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4
Q

What are emergent properties

A

properties of an entire system (or organism) that are not necessarily evident from examining the individual components

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5
Q

Since systems biology involves various levels of of the organism, mathematical modelling is used: what is this modelling called?

A

bioinformatics

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6
Q

What kind of studies does bioinformatics consider?

A

genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.
remember “omics”

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7
Q

Does systems biology use integration or reduction methods?

A

integration = think building up oppose to breaking down

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8
Q

What is the limitation with reductionist approaches?

A

hard to tell what the findings will mean in vivo

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9
Q

What is the limitation with integrative approaches?

A

less control over variables and viewed as less mechanistic (working with an entire organism not just one part of a system in study)

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10
Q

What type of disease is a reductionist approach best fit for

A

conditions where one or very few components are responsible for the overall affect on the system
- acute and simple diseases

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11
Q

What type of disease is an integrative approach best fit for

A

conditions where interactions between various components are responsible for the overall affect
- complex and chronic diseases

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12
Q

In which of the following would a systems biology approach work best

a) studying acute disease
b) when studying chronic and complex conditions
c) in a study where you want to find the mechanism of action

A

*recall: systems biology uses an integrative approach
therefore, b) chronic and complex conditions would use an integrative approach

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13
Q

Are most chronic conditions acute or complex

A

complex

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14
Q

Are chronic or acute diseases usually studied using a systems biology approach

A

chronic (integrative)

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15
Q

What are the biological concepts of health in terms of systems biology

A
  • each adult is considered as a unique biological system
  • the adult human has a control and communication network (CCN) that controls our functions
  • the CCN controls and processes information flow
  • the CCN is the focal point of health
  • aging and disease represent a compromised function of the CCN
  • systems biology approach to health should enhance medical practice
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16
Q

What makes each adult human a unique biological system

A

emergent properties

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17
Q

What are the 7 characteristics of life

A
  • responsiveness to the environment
  • growth/change
  • ability to reproduce
  • have metabolism and breathe
  • maintain homeostasis
  • made up of cells
  • passing on traits to offspring
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18
Q

Who is Robert Sapolsky

A

explores long term impacts of stress and investigates how culture/society influence our moral compass

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19
Q

What are the components of the CCN

A

central nervous system (CNS)
peripheral nervous system (PNS)
endocrine system
support and defence system

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20
Q

What does the CNS consist of

A

brain and spinal cord

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21
Q

What does the PNS consist of

A

somatic and autonomic nervous systems (voluntary and involuntary)

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22
Q

What does the endocrine system consist of

A

endocrine tissues and glands; hormones

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23
Q

What does the support and defence system consist of

A

support movement, maintenance, repair, adaptation, and defences (immune system)

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24
Q

In vegetative state, is the CCN still functioning?

A

yes; the CCN is always on

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25
How does communication travel through the CCN
chemical cell-cell signalling
26
In this systems biology view of the CCN, are the mind and body separate or together?
mind and body are not separate, things such as emotion are also thought to be chemically-based
27
How is the CCN an integrator of input
integrator of input to health disease and aging (genetics, environment, and lifestyle)
28
How is the CCN an integrator of output
integrator of output to the 7 dimensions of health
29
How does disease relate to the CCN
disease is result from diminished/abnormal function of the CCN
30
How does aging relate to the CCN
aging pairs in hand with decreasing function of the CCN
31
What does P4 medicine stand for
personalized, predictive, preventative, and participatory
32
What of the 4 P's are hardest to integrate into societal thinking
participatory - hardest to get individuals to participate in preventative health
33
What is a limitation with personalized/interactive medicine
evidence can be misinterpreted; providing info directly to consumers without physician consultation could lead to misunderstanding of results
34
If humans are the same species, how are we all considered unique
emergent properties of each individual make us unique biological beings
35
What is the overall control of humans
the control and communication network (CCN)
36
What happens when the CCN deteriorates
aging/disease
37
What is in silico research
done on mathematical models/computers
38
What is in vitro and ex vivo research
outside of living beings, in things such as cell culture, isolated tissue samples, etc.
39
What is in vivo
in living beings (animal models or human participants)
40
What is the main purpose of in vitro (ex vivo) research
allows more controlled experimental conditions, to better understand fundamental mechanisms (reductionist research)
41
What is an example of a nematode model frequently used due to low cost and easy to study
c. elegans (nematode with 40% genetic homology to humans)
42
What insect is frequently studied due to 65% genetic homology to humans
fruit flies
43
What is the scientific name for fruit flies
drosophila melanogaster
44
What is the most frequently and effectively used small animal model for in vivo research
rats and mice
45
What is not effectively studied in rats
human infant nutrition and metabolism research
46
Will studies done in rats and mice always have the same results
no, they are different species therefore they may not react the same to testing
47
What is the best animal model used to study human infant nutrition and metabolism
swine (baby pigs)
48
What (other than infant nutrition and metabolism) are swine used to study
xenografts (ie. pig heart valve transplants)
49
What is the closest model compared to humans
primates
50
What is the limitation with doing research in primates
cost, accessibility, ethics, etc.
51
What is a non-clinical/non-intervention study
no intervention = no change in treatment or environment: simply obersvations without alterations
52
What is the limitation with non-clinical research
cannot determine cause and effect, can only predict association/correlation
53
What does non-clinical research help us determine about any given issue at hand
hypothesis
54
What is a clinical study
any scenario where a medicinal treatment and/or placebo is given to intervene observed affects
55
What is the importance of clinical research
can prove cause and effect relationships
56
What is the gold standard type of research
double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials - meaning neither the patients nor the researcher know who has a placebo until observations are made, then revealed which patients had what to determine effect of the intervention
57
What are human clinical trials used for
vaccinations and new drug safety
58
What are the stages of a human clinical trial
1. preclinical: only animal models 2. phase 1 clinical trial: small group of people 3. phase 2 clinical trial: larger group (100s) 4. phase 3 clinical trial: even larger group (1000s) 5. after approval: ongoing assessment of long term use
59
What type of research is considered higher level of evidence above randomized control trials
approaches where previous research is combined and summarized to get an overall conclusion (critically appraised papers, critically appraised topics, and systematic reviews)
60
What is at the very top of the evidence based medicine pyramid
systematic reviews
61
What is evidence based medicine
when evidence from research, clinical information, and patient values are combined to find optimal approaches
62
What is evolutionary medicine
the application of evolutionary theory to understanding current health and disease
63
What is another term for evolutionary medicine
Darwinian medicine (invented by Darwin)
64
What types of things are considered by evolutionary medicine
- is our current diet unhealthy, should we mimic early diets? - are we not getting sufficient exercise in modern society? - stress kills in our society; what if our fight or flight response is always on and there's no fight or flight response
65
What is integrative medicine
healing-oriented medicine that takes into account the whole person being treated
66
What kind of treatment is seen with integrative medicine
aroma therapy, music therapy, physiotherapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, etc.
67
What is collective medicine
considers interconnected health between humans, animals, and the environment
68
What is one health as a concept
looking at connections between animals, humans, and environment
69
What is one health as an approach
who works in each field and how can they come together to solve the presented challenge
70
What is enhancement medicine
medicinal practices used to enhance ones looks, performance, etc.
71
What treatments are found in enhancement medicine
botox, nootropics (brain enhancers), fertility drugs, viagra, steroids, liposuctions, etc.
72
What is a trajectory
years, decades; usually refers to growth development and aging
73
What is a rhythms
days, weeks, months; usually refers to maintenance and repair
74
What is homeostasis/balance
seconds, minutes, hours; maintenance of steady state
75
What is energy/information flow
milliseconds, microseconds; action potentials, enzymatic reactions, etc.
76
What is lifespan
how long one lives in years
77
What is health span
how long one lives a healthy, independent lifestyle
78
What is average health span in Canada
72 years
79
What is average lifespan in Canada
81 years
80
What is the difficulty in maximizing health span
might result in shorter lifespan but health span as a result is longer - ie. cancer patient given 2 years to live with treatment, or 6 months to live with no treatment: no treatment would allow for 6 months of healthy independence, whereas treatment would diminish health span right away
81
What do we use to measure aging and disease progression
biomarkers: things we objectively measure that can be tracked with age/disease (ie. height)
82
When does decline in height typically occur
around age 40 (earlier than expected)
83
What leads to shortening height with age
bone degeneration, compression fractures, disk degeneration, etc.
84
How to differentiate between age and disease using biomarkers
tracking biomarkers with age reveals a general trend that is followed, if someone diverges heavily from this trend there is indication of disease present
85
What is the limitation with biomarker measurement
measurement has to be consistent (standing vs sitting, what time of day, etc.) and sometimes this is not attainable
86
How to limit loss of muscle mass with age
resistance training with high protein intake
87
What is required to be considered a biomarker
reflect both normal and abnormal function, be measurable, have a predictable range across a range of individuals
88
What is chronobiology
the study of timescales and cycles in biology
89
What are ultra radian rhythms
less than 24 hours
90
What are circadian rhythms
24 hour span
91
What are infradian rhythms
more than 24 hours
92
What is another term for circadian rhythm
diurnal variation
93
What are some examples of circadian rhythms
sleep, nutrient supply, metabolic patterns, etc.
94
When is rate of healing lowest
at night
95
What is the master "central clock" called that keeps time based on light signals from the retina
the suprachiasmatic nucleus
96
What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus
controls light signals from the retina - why it is easier to sleep in the dark
97
What hormone does blue spectrum light inhibit
inhibits melatonin release
98
How could a shift in sleep schedule impact circadian rhythms
since the suprachiasmatic nucleus functions on light signals, an altered sleep schedule would throw off ones circadian rhythm
99
What type of research is used to observe the effects of of altered sleep on rhythms
observational (if you altered someones sleep schedule on purpose that has ethical limits)
100
What health risk are shift workers at greater risk for
heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular complications, cancer, alzheimers
101
When is risk of sudden heart attack greatest
mid morning (no solid understanding of this yet though)
102
What is the diurnal variation in height daily
~2cm
103
When should you NOT measure height as a biomarker
within the first hour of getting out of bed (most effect of compression occurs in this time frame)
104
What is DEXA
dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry - determines bone mineral density, which is a more effective and accurate approach
105
Why is calcium important
helps with bone density
106
What is the danger of calcium deficiency in pregnancy
fetus will draw calcium from the mothers bones if not getting a sufficient supply, putting the mom at risk for injury
107
What does osteoporotic bone look like compared to normal bone
less calcium = less density, so osteoporotic bone has less hydroxyapatite and a weaker bone matrix
108
When do humans experience peak bone mass
between age 20-30
109
Why is it especially important to get calcium in childhood
to build bone density since it peaks so early in adulthood and cannot be built past that point
110
What two things are needed for building bone density
calcium and vitamin D

Biol 1080 (3 decks)

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