In 2012, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record-setting, seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from competitive cycling because of his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). One of the PEDs Armstrong was accused of taking is erythropoietin (EPO). Why would systematic use of this PED give Armstrong an unfair advantage in a bike race?

Question

A.  EPO stimulates the synthesis of myoglobin by muscle cells.
B.  EPO stimulates the formation of new alveoli in the lungs.
C.  EPO stimulates formation of new capillary beds in skeletal and heart muscle.
D.  EPO increases cardiac output by stimulating the ventricles to contract more strongly.
E.  EPO stimulates red blood cell production by the bone marrow.
F.  EPO stimulates growth of cardiac and skeletal muscle tissue.

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
 
Gather Content
What do you already know about erythropoietin? What other information is related to the question?

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
 
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

E.  EPO stimulates red blood cell production by the bone marrow.

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · This question is asking about the function of erythopoietin.
What type of thinking is required?
        · Apply level:
            o You are being asked to take what you already know and use, or apply, it to the role of erythropoietin in athletic ability.
 
Gather Content
What do you already know about erythropoietin? What other information is related to the question?
        · Red blood cells are known as erythrocytes.
        · Erythrocytes carry oxygen to the tissues of the body.
        · Oxygen is used in the last stage of cellular respiration.
        · Cellular respiration makes energy available for activity by converting the stored energy in nutrients into a usable form.
        · A plasma protein is converted into erythropoietin in the kidneys.
        · Erythropoietin stimulates the red bone marrow to make erythrocytes.
        · Erythrocytes are made from stem cells.

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · The only function of erythropoietin is to stimulate the production of new red blood cells.
        · This would increase the amount of oxygen that can be carried to cells, and would potentially increase cellular respiration and available energy.
        · Erythropoietin does not act outside of the production of blood, so although the other answers might accelerate oxygen delivery to cells, the only correct response is that erythropoietin stimulates the production of red blood cells.
 
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        · Apply level:
            o Answering this question correctly depended on your ability to use the function of erythropoietin in a new situation. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that erythropoietin stimulates the redbone marrow, or that the red bone marrow produces erythrocytes? Did you have trouble extending the function of erythropoietin to determine the correct answer?