Medical Biotechnology Flashcards
(39 cards)
What is gene therapy?
When doctors manipulate genetic material to try and cure a condition
What is a vaccine?
A suspension of dead, weakened or fragmented pathogen (or toxins) that will stimulate the production of antibodies by the lymphocytes
How do vaccines work?
The dead cell means you don’t get sick
The antibody is made
The memory cell remembers how to make the antibody
If you become infected with the actual virus, the memory cell remembers how to make the antibody
Why are vaccines needed?
Antibodies, if made from scratch, can take up to five days
What is herd immunity?
When a person isn’t immune to a disease, but everyone around them is, so their risk is lower
What are the two types of immunity?
Adaptive
Innate
What are the two types of adaptive immunity?
Natural
Artificial
What is a DNA vaccine?
A vaccine where the specific part of DNA that instructs your cells to make the antibodies you need
What is biotechnology?
Manipulating a biological system to better affect the human
What is an antibiotic?
Drugs that fight off infections caused by microorganisms
Where did the first penicillin come from?
A fungus
What do antibiotics prevent?
Only infections caused by bacteria
How do antibiotics work?
They inhibit the bacterial cell from making a cell wall
They inhibit the bacterial cell from replicating its DNA
They inhibit the bacterial cell from making proteins
How can taking too little antibiotics be bad for you?
If you don’t take enough, only the resistant bacteria remain
These stronger bacteria are harder to kill
How can taking too many antibiotics be bad for you?
If you take them when you don’t need them, your body can work up immunity to them, and then they won’t work when you actually need them
Why are probiotics needed?
They replace the ‘good’ bacteria that are killed by antibiotics
What are antigens?
Things that help your immune system to recognise your own cells
What antigen does Group A have?
Only A
What antigen does Group B have?
Only the B antigen
What antigen does Group AB have?
Both antigens
What antigen does Group O have?
Neither antigen A or B
What does the + or - of blood type mean?
The positive means you have the Rhesus factor
Negative means you don’t
What are antigens?
Proteins
Why is cross matching of blood important?
If someone is given blood with proteins their immune system doesn’t recognise, the cells will be attacked and the blood will clot
