IMMUNE!!!

• What do cancerous cells have on their surface?

  Antigens
• What happens when monoclonal antibodies which are designed to specifically bind to the antigens which are on the surface of cancer cells are injected into the body?

  They will bind to these cancer cells and clump them together
• What are the advantages of the use of monoclonal antibodies in cancer diagnosis?

  It makes it easier to identify a cancerous tumour, which can then be treated and removed
• What can monoclonal antibodies be made to make it easier to identify a cancerous tumour?

  Slightly radioactive to allow the cancerous cells to be detected in the body, for example. Using a PET scanner
• How else can monoclonal antibodies be used to treat cancer?

  Carrying drugs that have been attached to them, to the tumour. This means that the drugs specifically target the cancer cells and can allow small doses of chemotherapy to be used and reduces the side effects and risks to healthy cells
• How can monoclonal antibodies be used to identify blood clots?

  They can be attached to dyes which can glow flourescently under UV light or attached to radioactive elements which can be detected with special cameras. This can make locating the clot much easier and speed up how quickly the patient is treated
• What are antigens?

  Protein molecules found on the surface of red blood cells
• What are antibodies?

  Proteins.
• What do antibodies do?

  They recognise foreign substances, such as germs, and alert your immune system, which destroys them
• What is the first stage to testing a new medecine?

  Preclinical testing
• What happens in preclinical testing?

  Antibiotics are tested in a lab on cell cultures and animals to make sure the médecine gets into cells without harming them, and damages pathogens inside cells
• What is the second step in testing new medicines?

  Clinical trials on healthy volunteers
• What happens during clinical trails on healthy volunteers?

  Healthy volunteers are given a very small dose of the drug to check that the drug is not toxic (harmful)
• What is the third stage of testing a new medicine?

  Clinical trials on a patient with the disease
• What happens during clinical testing on a patient with the disease?

  Patients with the disease are given different doses of the drug to test efficacy and to find the optimum does
• What are antibiotics

  Medicines that help stop infections by killing bacteria or preventing them from spreading
• What does a vaccine contain?

  Antigens from the pathogen, often in the form of dead or weakened pathogens
• What does a person’s body do in response to being injected with the vaccine?

  Their lymphocytes produce antibodies against the pathogen and also memory lymphocytes which remain in the blood
• What happens if a person who has had a vaccination against a pathogen gets infected with that pathogen?

  The memory lymphocytes will give a very rapid response to the pathogen which means the person is very unlikely to become ill
• What are the advantages of vaccination?

  • Immunity is produced without being ill
  • Immunity lasts for a long time, often for life
  • If most people are immune, then the few who are unvaccinated are also less likely to catch the disease. This is called herd immunity
• What are the disadvantages of vaccinations?

  • Some people get a mild reaction of swelling and soreness, or a mild form of the disease
  • Very rarely, a person has a major harmful reaction
• What chemical defenses are in tears?

  Lysozyme enzyme in tears kills enzymes by digesting their cell walls
• What chemical defenses are in saliva and mucus?

  Lysozyme enzyme
• What chemical defense is in the stomach?

  Hydrochloric acid which kills pathogens in food and drink
• Why is the skin a physical défense?

  Unbroken skin forms a protective barrier because it is too thick for most pathogens to get through
• Why is the stick mucus a physical défense?

  It traps pathogens in the breathing passengers and lungs and cilia on the cells lining the lungs move in a wave-like motion, moving mucus and trapped pathogens out of the lungs towards the back of the throat where it can be swallowed
• What is the type of pathogen that causes cholera?

  Bacterium
• Type of pathogen that causes malaria?

  Protist
• Type of pathogen that causes HIV/AIDS?

  Virus
• Type of pathogen that causes tuberculosis?

  Bacterium
• Type of pathogen that causes Ebola?

  Virus
• Type of pathogen that causes Stomach ulcers?

  Bacterium
• Type of fungus that causes ash die-back?

  fungus