Do you agree with the practice of engineering transgenic animals to be models of human disease? Why or why not? What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: Answers will vary. Students may propose issues related to animal welfare.
Background:Genomics
has revealed that many human genes have identical counterparts in other
organisms, including the mouse and even the fruit fly, Drosophila. More than 90% of the
genes known to be involved in human diseases are also present in the mouse. This makes the
mouse an excellent model to explore the genetic, biochemical, and cellular aspects of human diseases. Mouse models of inherited human diseases have been created by transferring
mutant human disease alleles into mice and using the resulting
transgenic
mice to achieve several goals: (1) to produce an animal with symptoms that mirror those in
humans, (2) to use the model to study the early stages of development and progress of
diseases, and (3) to test drugs to treat symptoms or, hopefully, cure the diseases.
For example, HD mice are used to study the progressive destruction of brain structures that occurs in
the earliest stages of the disease process—something that is impossible to do in humans. In addition,
HD mice are used to link specific changes in brain structure with behavioral changes.
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What are anabolic steroids?
A. Artificial chemicals that resemble human testosterone B. Medications that can be taken to increase the number of red blood cells C. Hormones that are only produced in the body following the ingestion of specific chemicals D. Hormones that are produced by the human body to increase muscle mass
Compare the differences between the biological species concept and the morphological species concept used by
Linnaeus. What will be an ideal response?
T-cell response to T-cell-dependent antigens requires
A. typically a protein antigen. B. binding of T-cell to a site on the antigen. C. binding of T-cell to a Class II MHC receptor on an antigen-presenting cell. D. interleukin-1 activating the T helper cell. E. All of these choices are correct.
A bowl of sugar water is very stable. However, cells can rapidly break down sugar into carbon dioxide and water. What is the best explanation for this observation?
A. Glucose becomes more chemically reactive inside a cell. B. The water is activated by the presence of living cells. C. Enzymes in the cell catalyze the breakdown of glucose. D. Living cells make the water warmer, speeding up the reaction. E. Breakdown of glucose has a negative delta G outside of cells, but a positive delta G inside cells. F. Cells use energy to break down glucose.