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• 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, use aseptic technique, calculate growth rate
• 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
• Specialized cells


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


  Unspecialized cells that can differentiate into various cell types
• Diffusion


  Movement of molecules/particles from high to low concentration, down concentration gradient, passive process
• Osmosis


  Diffusion of water across a semi-permeable membrane
• Measuring osmosis


  1. Cut equal size vegetable cylinders

  2. Weigh and place in varying 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
• Tissues


  • Heart
  • Digestive
• Enzymes


  Biological catalysts that are specific and work on a lock and key principle
• Measuring enzyme activity


  1. Mix enzyme and substrate

  2. Measure time for reaction to complete at different temperatures/pH

  3. Plot time vs temperature/pH to find optimum
• Food tests


  • Iodine for starch
  • Benedict's solution for sugars
  • Biuret's reagent for proteins
  • Ethanol for lipids
• Breathing vs respiration


  Breathing provides oxygen for respiration to occur in cells
• Gas exchange in lungs

  1. Air enters trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli

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


  Double circulatory system, deoxygenated blood enters right side of heart, oxygenated blood leaves left side
• Blood vessels


  Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from heart, veins carry deoxygenated blood towards heart
• Coronary arteries supply heart muscle with oxygen
• 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
• Coronary heart disease (CHD)


  Occurs when coronary arteries are blocked by fatty deposits, causing a heart attack
• Stents


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


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


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


  Carries plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets
• White blood cells


  Combat infections
• Platelets


  Clump together to clot wounds and stop bleeding
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD)


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


  Caused by a pathogen that enters the body, can be viral, bacterial, or fungal
• Type 2 diabetes


  Can be caused by obesity and too much sugar
• Carcinogen


  Anything that increases the risk of cancer
• Benign cancer


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


  Cancerous cells spread through the body, much worse