BIOLOGY application questions

How can you tell a saturated fat from a polyunsaturated fat in the grocery store?

A polyunsaturated fat will be liquid at room temp and a saturated fat will be solid at room temp because of the shape of their peptide bonds.

Bacteria are often associated with illness. Why is this a misconception?

Most bacteria are actually helpful to humans, but the few that are harmful have given the rest a bad wrap.

If you were to add pure water to a plant what type of situation would you create?

a hypotonic situation because there is more water outside the cells

Bacteria in your mouth convert foods containing sugar and starch into acids that can cause cavities in your teeth. These bacteria will be present even if you brush your teeth, floss, or use mouthwash. Why are these habits important?

If you get rid of the sugars and starches in your mouth, the bacteria will have nothing to convert to acids.

Suppose a certain poison kills human cells by blocking pores in the nuclear membrane. Explain why it would or would not kill bacteria.

It would not kill the bacteria because bacteria does not have a nuclear membrane because it it prokaryotic.

If you are dehydrated, you go to the hospital and get an IV. Why is there salt water in the IV instead of pure water?

There is less water outside the cells and in the cells is water and solutes, if you add pure water then the pure water will rush into the cells trying to reach equilibrium and cause the cells to explode. saline is already at an equilibrium so it will equally distribute itself in the cells.

The mitochondria in your cells must use glucose in order to function. Explain why your body can still function, although temporarily, in a starvation/fasting situation.

We accumulate/store glucose in the liver (glycogen) and other places in our body like muscle cells and fat cells to be used later. The stored glucose can be used in fasting/staving situations for a short period of time.

Cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on earth. Why is it important to animals?

When we eat cellulose, the bacteria in our stomach break it down because the stomach cells cannot; therefore, the bacteria release vitamins and we have a greater variety of bacteria and more vitamins. It also helps to get the digestive track moving.

Suppose you had a friend who wanted to entirely avoid eating fats. What functions of lipids could you describe to convince her that fats are important to her health?

fats are the greatest source of energy for our bodies and brain cells only use fats for energy and she would become vitamin/mineral deficient without some fats

If qualitative data depends on subjective observations of the observer, are qualitative data less valuable in research?

qualitative data is less valuable than quantitative because it is subject to the opinion of the observer but it is still valuable

Why is the panda's thumb considered an adaptive comprimise?

the thumb is actually just a wrist bone being used as a thumb (something other than its intended use), it is not a true thumb, just a longer wrist bone

Insulin is a hormone that serves as a ligand (signal) to tell cells to take glucose in. What would happen if the receptor for insulin was damaged?

there would be too much glucose in the blood because the cells were not told to take in glucose and there is a specific shape for each receptor