Developing new medicines

One species of bacteria is resistant to most antibiotics. The bacteria can survive on hard surfaces and on human skin.

People become very ill if the bacteria enter the blood.

People who have wounds from surgery can become infected with the bacteria.

Suggest two ways of reducing the risk of infection with the bacteria.

A hospital had 1300 patients.

39 of the patients became infected with the bacteria.

Calculate the percentage of patients that became infected with the bacteria.

Having HIV makes a person more likely to become ill from infections.

Why is a person with HIV more likely to become ill if infected with the bacteria?

Tick () one box.

HIV can be treated with painkillers.

HIV damages the immune system.

HIV is spread by sexual contact.

A new antibiotic is being developed.

The new antibiotic is being tested in a drug trial.

Draw one line from each part of a drug trial to the reason for that part of the drug trial.

Funnel-web spiders produce poison to kill prey.

The poison enters the prey when the spider bites the prey.

The poison contains a protein.

What is a protein?

Tick (✓) one box.

A chain of glucose molecules

A long chain of amino acids

A small insoluble molecule

What reagent is used to test for protein?

The protein from the spider could be used in a new drug to treat patients having a heart attack.

When a person has a heart attack:

cells in the heart muscle do not receive enough oxygen

cells in the heart muscle stop working.

Why are heart attacks non-communicable?

The protein from the spider allows heart muscle tissues to function in low concentrations of oxygen.

Complete Table 4 to show the risks and benefits of the new drug.

Tick (✓) one box in each row.

The drug made from the protein would be tested in a drug trial.

Part of the drug trial would involve a placebo.

Explain why a placebo is used in a drug trial.

The results of drug trials are peer reviewed.

Which are two advantages of peer review?

Tick (✓) two boxes.

People who are not experts simplify the results during peer review.

Scientists not involved in the drug trial assess whether the results are valid.

Scientists who planned the drug trial decide whether the results are published.

The peer reviewers decide the dose for testing the drug on animals.

The process of peer review reduces the chance of bias.

Funnel-web spiders produce a poison to kill prey.

The poison enters the prey when the spider bites the prey.

The poison contains a protein.

Animals produce protease enzymes.

Explain why protease enzymes do not protect animals that are bitten by funnel-web spiders.

The protein from the poison may be used in a new drug.

The protein allows heart muscle tissue to function in low concentrations of oxygen.

Explain how coronary heart disease can decrease the concentration of oxygen in heart muscle tissue.

The new drug may be useful when transporting a donor heart to a patient for a heart transplant.

Suggest why.

The species of funnel-web spider that produces the poison comes from a small, remote area.

Evaluate the use of the poison from the funnel-web spider as a drug.

Stem cells are found in human embryos and in meristem tissue.

Which organisms is meristem tissue found in?

Tick (✓) one box.

Animals

Bacteria

Plants

New cells are produced during the formation of an embryo.

Figure 14 shows how a human baby is formed.

Some people believe using embryonic stem cells in medical research is unethical.

Give one reason why.

Bone cells divide to repair damage.

Give one other reason why bone cells divide.

Scientists tested a new drug to treat tumours in mice.

All the mice had the same type of tumour.

This is the method used.

1. Inject six mice with the drug once a day for 24 days.

2. Measure the volume of the tumour every 4 days.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, injecting a new group of mice with the drug twice a day.

Figure 15 shows the results.

Six other mice were given an injection that did not contain the drug.

Why did the scientists use mice that were not given the drug?

Tick (✓) one box.

As a clinical trial

As a control

As an anomaly

Describe how the drug injected once a day and the drug injected twice a day affected the volume of the tumour.

Use data from Figure 15.

A tumour is a group of abnormal cells that form a lump.

Give one factor that causes cells to form tumours.

Tumours can be benign or malignant.

Malignant tumours are cancers.

Give two ways a malignant tumour is different from a benign tumour.

Scientists tested a new drug to treat tumours in mice.

All the mice:

had the same type of tumour

were the same age

were female.

This is the method used.

1. Inject the mice with a dose of 0.015 mg of the drug every day for 20 days.

2. Measure the volume of the tumour every 4 days.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with new groups of mice using doses of:

0.030 mg of the drug

0.060 mg of the drug.

Give two control variables the scientists should have used in the drug test.

Do not refer to the type of tumour, the age of the mice or the sex of the mice.

Some mice were used as a control group.

Suggest what treatment was given to the control group.

Give one reason why the scientists used a control group.

Figure 5 shows the results.

Calculate the percentage increase in the volume of the tumour in the control group between 0 and 20 days.

Give two conclusions about the effectiveness of the different doses of the drug.

Use Figure 5.

Suggest why the scientists measured the volume of the tumour instead of measuring the width of the tumour.

The scientists tested the drug in two stages: stage 1: drug tested on pieces of tumour tissue

stage 2: drug tested on mice with tumours.

What extra information will the scientists gain by testing the drug on mice at stage 2?

This question is about genetics.

Figure 3 shows the chromosomes of a man.

What evidence is there that the person is male?

Use Figure 3.

A combination of genes and the environment affect how tall a person is.

Give one other human characteristic that is affected by genes and the environment.

Do not refer to height in your answer.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disorder that affects the lungs.

Suggest one symptom caused by damaged lungs.

The allele for having cystic fibrosis is recessive, r.

The allele for not having cystic fibrosis is dominant, R.

What is the genotype of a person with cystic fibrosis?

Tick (✓) one box.

RR Rr rr

A man has the genotype RR.

Which word describes the genotype RR ?

Tick (✓) one box.

Characteristic

Homozygous

Phenotype

A woman has a child with a man.

Complete Figure 4 to show the possible genotypes of the child.

Figure 4

What is the chance of the child having cystic fibrosis?

Tick (✓) one box.

0% 25% 50% 75%

Drugs are being developed to treat cystic fibrosis in humans.

The drugs are tested before being used to treat patients.

Give two reasons why drugs are tested.

The drugs are tested on sheep that have been genetically modified (GM) to develop the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

Give one ethical argument against the production of sheep with the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

Do not refer to religion in your answer.

A nose spray has been produced.

The nose spray puts a thin layer of gel in the airways between the nose and the lungs.

The manufacturer of the nose spray claims that:

‘The nose spray defends against diseases such as the common cold.’

Why is the manufacturer’s claim difficult to test?

Tick (✓) one box.

A symptom of the common cold is a cough.

The common cold does not spread through drinking water.

We do not know who will get the common cold.

The nose spray was tested as a new medical drug.

In the drug trial some patients were given a nose spray with no drug.

What is the word used to describe the nose spray with no drug?

Tick (✓) one box.

Painkiller

Placebo

Statin

Most medicines contain a mixture of ingredients.

Why do some tablets contain sugar as well as the drug?

Tick (✓) one box.

So that the tablet is more difficult to swallow

To decrease the size of the tablet

To improve the taste of the tablet

Figure 9 shows some of the ways that the body defends itself against infectious diseases.

Describe how the skin, airways and stomach defend against diseases.

On aeroplanes, pathogens can easily spread from one person to another person.

Suggest one way pathogens can spread from one person to another person on an aeroplane.

The manufacturer of a nose spray claims that:

‘The nose spray defends against diseases such as the common cold.’

The nose spray puts a thin layer of gel in the airways between the nose and the lungs.

Describe how the nose spray and the body’s natural defences in the airways work in similar ways to defend against pathogens.

The nose spray was tested as a new medical drug.

The manufacturer of the nose spray claims:

‘The nose spray can decrease the number of days that a person has symptoms of the common cold.’

Suggest one reason why this claim is difficult to test.

The nose spray contains a mixture of ingredients.

Suggest two reasons why the nose spray is a mixture of ingredients.

Late-stage HIV (AIDS) affects the immune system.

A person with AIDS is more likely to suffer from another infectious disease.

Give one other example of how having one disease can affect the development of a different disease.

Do not refer to HIV or AIDS.

Figure 5 shows a diagram of blood.

Cells in the blood are specialised to have particular functions.

What process produces specialised cells?

Tick (✓) one box.

Draw one line from each blood component to a function of the component.

Some blood cells carry out phagocytosis.

What is phagocytosis?

Tick (✓) one box.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition.

The allele for not having cystic fibrosis is dominant, R.

The recessive allele is r.

What term describes the genotype Rr ?

Tick (✓) one box.

Having symptoms of cystic fibrosis is a person’s phenotype.

What does the term ‘phenotype’ mean?

Tick (✓) one box.

Two people are planning to have a child.

Complete Figure 6 to show the possible genotypes of the child.

Draw a ring around one of the offspring in Figure 6 that would have cystic fibrosis.

What is the percentage chance of the child having cystic fibrosis?

Tick (✓) one box.

New drugs are being developed to treat the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

Trials of new drugs are needed to work out the correct dose of the drug to use.

Give one other reason why drugs are trialled before they are used by patients.

Do not refer to dosage in your answer.