Bio 109 Take Home Exam 1

1. Cholera is a disease that changes the tonicity (water/salt

concentration) within the intestines and leads to excessive
diarrhea and dehydration and often death in those affected by it.
Based on your knowledge of osmosis and water
movement, explain what you think the cholera bacteria
does to the cells and digestive cavity of people that are
infected. Secondly, explain whether you believe that
large amount of water or large amounts of an electrolyte
drink such as gatorade would be the best treatment and
why.
2. Using the information you know about the skin, answer the
following questions:
A. A Patient in the burn unit is always treated with antibiotics
and large amounts of intervenous fluids. How does a burn
that damages the epidermis and the dermis affect a patient,
and lead to these treatments?
B. Why are certain medications able to be given as a patch on
the skin if the skin is designed to serve as a barrier?
C. Why does the skin get pale in the cold and red in the heat,
and what advantage is this to the vital organs of the body
such as the heart, lungs and brain?

D. People in northern climates are often told to increase the amount of

Vitamin D in their diet, especially in the winter months. What role
does Vitamin D have in the body, and why is it so important for
people who live in cold climates to increase their intake of it during
the winter?

3. Listeria is a bacteria that causes serious infections in humans when it is able

to enter the body. In order for the bacteria to be damaging to humans, it
must have enough time to enter the body and reproduce to form colonies
numerous enough to cause an active infection. One way the bacteria acts is
to neutralize the enzyme acid hydrolase. Based on your knowledge of the
cell, explain how neutralizing this enzyme benefits the listeria bacteria.
4. Tay-Sachs disease occurs when the cell is unable to break down lipids.
a. What organelle is probably involved? Explain your answer

5. There are several genetic diseases that occur when proteins are never
modified properly and consequently are not transported to the proper
location within the cell.
a. What organelle or cellular structure is probably involved?
Explain your answer
6. In sickle cell anemia , the red blood cells lose their typical circular
shape and are elongated and curved instead.
a. What organelle or cellular structure is probably involved?
b. Explain your answer.
7. A patient is seen in the ER with partial paralysis & muscle weakness.
Further testing shows low levels of ATP, an increased level of cellular
death, and high levels of arsenic in the blood stream. The doctor
quickly orders therapy to bind and neutralize the arsenic in the
patients bloodstream. What organelle is likely being affected by the
arsenic? Explain your answer.