SUMMARY

• Microscopes

  Normal light microscope can see cells and nucleus, electron microscope can see subcellular structures in more detail
• Calculating cell size


  1. Measure image size

  2. Divide by magnification
• Eukaryotic cells

  Have a nucleus containing DNA
• Prokaryotic cells


  Do not have a nucleus, DNA is in a ring called a plasmid
• Cell structures

  • Cell membrane
  • Cell wall (plant cells and bacteria)
  • Cytoplasm
  • Mitochondria
  • Ribosomes
  • Chloroplasts (plant cells)
• Bacterial binary fission


  1. Number doubles every 10 minutes

  2. Practical: Grow culture on agar plate using aseptic technique

  3. Calculate culture size from area or initial drop
• Diploid cells


  Have 23 pairs of chromosomes
• Haploid cells

  Have 23 chromosomes (not in pairs)
• Mitosis


  1. Genetic material duplicated

  2. Nucleus breaks down

  3. Chromosomes pulled to opposite sides

  4. New nuclei form
• Specialised cell types

  • Nerve
  • Muscle
  • Root hair
  • Xylem
  • Phloem
• Stem cells

  Unspecialised cells that can differentiate into various cell types
• Diffusion


  Movement of molecules/particles from high to low concentration, down concentration gradient, no energy input
• Osmosis


  Diffusion of water across a semi-permeable membrane
• Practical: Osmosis

  1. Cut potato cylinders

  2. Weigh and place in sugar solutions

  3. Reweigh after a day

  4. Calculate % change in mass

  5. Plot against concentration to find no change point
• Active transport


  Using energy to move substances against a concentration gradient
• Digestive system processes


  • Acid in stomach
  • Bile and enzymes in small intestine
  • Emulsification of fats
• Enzymes

  Biological catalysts that are specific to certain substrates, work on a lock and key principle
• Practical: Enzyme activity

  1. Mix amylase and starch

  2. Test for starch every 10 seconds with iodine

  3. Plot time to complete reaction against temperature or pH

  4. Find optimum conditions
• Food tests


  • Iodine for starch
  • Benedict's solution for sugars
  • Biuret's reagent for proteins
  • Ethanol for lipids
• Breathing and gas exchange

  1. Air moves down trachea, bronchi, bronchioles to alveoli

  2. Oxygen diffuses into blood, carbon dioxide diffuses out
• Circulatory system

  1. Deoxygenated blood enters right side of heart

  2. Pumped to lungs to be oxygenated

  3. Oxygenated blood enters left side of heart

  4. Pumped to body
• Blood vessels

  Arteries carry oxygenated blood, veins carry deoxygenated blood, capillaries allow fast diffusion
• Coronary arteries supply the heart muscle with oxygen</b>
• Cardiovascular disease

  Non-communicable disease caused by factors within the body, e.g. buildup of fatty deposits
• Communicable diseases are caused by pathogens that can be transmitted between individuals
• Coronary artery


  Delivers blood to the heart muscle to supply oxygen
• Heart attack


  Occurs when coronary arteries are blocked by buildup of fatty deposits, causing coronary heart disease (CHD)
• Stents


  Little tubes inserted into blood vessels to keep them open and allow blood flow
• Statins

  Drugs that reduce cholesterol, which reduces fatty deposits
• Faulty heart valves


  Result in backflow, can be replaced with artificial ones
• Blood

  Carries plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells (combat infections), and platelets (clot wounds)
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD)


  An example of a non-communicable disease, caused by factors within the body
• Examples of non-communicable diseases


  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Autoimmune conditions
  • Cancer
• Communicable disease


  Caused by a pathogen (virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite) that enters the body
• Carcinogen

  Anything that increases the risk of cancer
• Benign cancer

  Doesn't spread through the body, relatively easy to treat
• Malignant cancer

  Cancerous cells spread through the body, much worse
• Leaves


  Where photosynthesis takes place, producing food for the plant
• Transpiration


  The diffusing of water out of leaves, allowing water and minerals to be drawn up from the roots
• Xylem


  Long continuous tubes that water rises up, unidirectional