B6

Question 1

What is an antibody

Answer 1

White blood cell produces it to bind to antigen on pathogen and inactivate or destroy it

Question 2

What is an antigen

Answer 2

Unique proteins on a cell that white blood cells can recognise as foreign

Question 3

What are memory cells

Answer 3

White blood cells that recognise an antigen from a previous time so can make the antibody quicker

Question 4

How does a vaccine work

Answer 4

Inject a dead or inactive pathogen into body, triggers immune response (white blood cells make antibody), if you get the actual pathogen, memory cells will recognise the antigen and produce an antibody quicker

Question 5

What types of diseases do vaccines work for

Answer 5

Bacteria and viral

Question 6

What is herd immunity

Answer 6

When a large proportion of the population get vaccinated, it is harder to pass a pathogen around as it gets destroyed quicker in each person

Question 7

What type of pathogen do antibiotics work against

Answer 7

Bacterial

Question 8

How do antibiotics work

Answer 8

Kill or damage bacteria cells without causing harm to healthy cells (stop bacteria cells growing), specific bacteria should be treated with relevant antibody

Question 9

Negatives of antibiotics

Answer 9

• don’t work against viruses
• antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are evolving

Question 10

How to prevent antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria

Answer 10

• take antibiotics for whole of the prescribed time period otherwise the strong bacteria that weren’t killed will replicate even if you didn’t have any symptoms
• don’t over use antibiotics
• develop new antibiotics

Question 11

What did medicines used to come from

Answer 11

Plants

Question 12

2 examples of drugs from plants

Answer 12

Digitalis is from foxgloves
Aspirin from bark of willow trees

Question 13

How was penicillin discovered

Answer 13

• Alexander Fleming was growing bacteria for study purposes
• after leaving them over holiday, he realised there were clear rings around some of the mould that had killed the bacteria
• called it penicillin

Question 14

Future of drugs

Answer 14

Most are now synthesised
However, starting point is still usually a plant or microorganism

Question 15

4 things a good drug must be

Answer 15

1. Effective
2. Safe
3. Stable
4. Successfully taken into and out of body

Question 16

What does it mean if a drug is effective

Answer 16

Prevent or cure disease or at least make you feel better

Question 17

What does it mean if a drug is stable

Answer 17

Must be able to use drug under normal conditions and store it for some time

Question 18

What does it mean if a drug is safe

Answer 18

Can’t be toxic or have unacceptable side effects

Question 19

What are the 6 stages of drug testing

Answer 19

1. Computer model
2. Human tissues/ cell
3. Animals
4. Healthy volunteers
5. Ill volunteers
6. Placebo

Question 20

Explain first stage of drug testing

Answer 20

Computer model, check chemical reactions in body

Question 21

Explain second stage of drug testing

Answer 21

Human tissues/ cells - check damage to cells

Question 22

Explain third stage of drug testing

Answer 22

Animals - check dosage, effective, side effects and toxicity

Question 23

Explain fourth stage of drug testing

Answer 23

Healthy volunteers - paid, check max dosage before side effects, doesn’t check effectiveness

Question 24

Explain fifth stage of drug testing

Answer 24

Ill volunteers - check effectiveness, dosages side effects

Question 25

Explain sixth stage of drug testing

Answer 25

Placebo - unbiased (neither doctor or patient know if drug is real), tests if drug only has mental effects

Question 26

What is the placebo also known as

Answer 26

Double blind trials

Question 27

What are the two categories of drug testing

Answer 27

Preclinical and clinical

Question 28

What stages are preclinical

Answer 28

Computer, human tissues/ cells, animals

Question 29

What stages are clinical

Answer 29

Healthy volunteers, ill volunteers, double blind trials

Question 30

How do you make a monoclonal antibody

Answer 30

• animal (mouse) is injected with disease
• triggers immune response in mouse
• lymphocytes producing the antibody are fused with a tumour cell (forms hybridoma)
• hybridoma divides to produce a large number of identical cells making antibody
• antibodies are collected and purified

Question 31

How do pregnancy tests work

Answer 31

These have been designed to bind with a hormone called HCG which is found only in the urine of pregnant women. Monoclonal antibodies are attached to the end of a pregnancy test stick onto which a woman urinates. If she is pregnant, HCG will be present in her urine and will bind to the monoclonal antibodies on the test stick. This will cause a change in colour or pattern which will indicate pregnancy. These specific monoclonal antibodies in the pregnancy test will only bind with HCG.

Question 32

3 ways monoclonal antibodies are used to treat and diagnose cancer

Answer 32

Direct use - trigger immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells
Block receptors - block receptors on surface of cell to stop it growing and dividing
Carry toxins/ radioactive substances - for radiotherapy or chemicals to stop cells growing and dividing

Question 33

Advantages of monoclonal antibodies

Answer 33

• only bind to one specific type of cell that needs treatment
• don’t effect healthy cells
• can be used to treat a wide range of conditions

Question 34

Disadvantages of monoclonal antibodies

Answer 34

• expensive
• not as successful or widely used as initially hoped
• displayed more side effects than first expected
• developing them is difficult