The Study of Life

Many diabetic patients are warned by their doctors to test their glucose levels by pricking the sides of their fingers rather than the pads. Pricking the sides avoids stimulating which receptor? a. Krause end bulbs b. Meissner’s corpuscles c. Ruffini ending d. Nociceptors

Active transport of K+ in Malpighian tubules ensures that:

a. water follows K+ to make urine

b. osmotic balance is maintained between waste

matter and bodily fluids

c. both a and b

d. neither a nor b

Consulting the modern phylogenetic tree of animals, which of the following would not constitute a clade?                       

a. deuterostomes
b. lophotrochozoans 

c. Parazoa
d. Bilateria

FSH and LH release from the anterior pituitary is

stimulated by ________.

a. TSH

b. GnRH

c. T3

d. PTH

The acquired ability to prevent an unnecessary or destructive immune reaction to a harmless foreign particle, such as a food protein, is called ________.

a. the T_H2 response

b. allergy

c. immune tolerance

d. autoimmunity

Which of the following are true of epigenetic changes? 

a. allow DNA to be transcribed 

b. move histones to open or close a chromosomal region 

c. are temporary 

d. all of the above 

Which of the following is thought to be the most closely

related to the common animal ancestor?

a. fungal cells

b. protist cells

c. plant cells

d. bacterial cells

Contractile vacuoles in microorganisms:

a. exclusively perform an excretory function

b. can perform many functions, one of which is

excretion of metabolic wastes

c. originate from the cell membrane

d. both b and c

What hormone is produced by beta cells of the pancreas?

a. T3

b. glucagon

c. insulin

d. T4

A memory B cell can differentiate upon re-exposure to a pathogen of which cell type?

a. CTL

b. naïve B cell

c. memory T cell

d. plasma cell

Active transport must function continuously because ________.

1. Plasma membranes wear out.
2. Not all membranes are amphiphilic 
3. Facilitated transport opposes active transport
4. Diffusion is constantly moving solutes in opposite directions.

Flame cells are primitive excretory organs found in

________.

a. arthropods

b. annelids

c. mammals

d. flatworms

The binding of ________ is required for transcription to start. 

a. a protein 

b. DNA polymerase 

c. RNA polymerase 

d. a transcription factor 

As with the emergence of the Acoelomorpha phylum, it

is common for ____ data to misplace animals in close

relation to other species, whereas ____ data often reveals

a different and more accurate evolutionary relationship.

a. molecular : morphological

b. molecular : fossil record

c. fossil record : morphological

d. morphological : molecular

Foreign particles circulating in the blood are filtered by the ________.

a. spleen

b. lymph nodes

c. MALT

d. lymph

BUN is ________.

a. blood urea nitrogen

b. blood uric acid nitrogen

c. an indicator of blood volume

d. an indicator of blood pressure

The ________ connects the two cerebral hemispheres. 

a. limbic system 

b. corpus callosum 

c. cerebellum 

d. pituitary 

Which of the following periods is the earliest during

which animals may have appeared?

a. Ordovician period

b. Cambrian period

c. Ediacaran period

d. Cryogenian period

Which pre-mRNA processing step is important for initiating translation?

 a. poly-A tail

 b. RNA editing

 c. splicing 

d. 7-methylguanosine cap

The structure of an antibody is similar to the extracellular component of which receptor?

a. MHC I

b. MHC II

c. BCR

d. none of the above

Human beings accumulate ________ before excreting

nitrogenous waste.

a. nitrogen

b. ammonia

c. urea

d. uric acid

A scientist compares the promoter regions of two genes. Gene A’s core promoter plus proximal promoter elements encompass 70bp. Gene B’s core promoter plus proximal promoter elements encompass 250bp. Which of the scientist’s hypotheses is most likely to be correct? 

a. More transcripts will be made from Gene B. 

b. Transcription of Gene A involves fewer transcription factors. 

c. Enhancers control Gene B’s transcription. 

d. Transcription of Gene A is more controlled than the transcription of Gene B. 

What type of data is primarily used to determine the

existence and appearance of early animal species?

a. molecular data

b. fossil data

c. morphological data

d. embryological development data

The first antibody class to appear in the serum in response to a newly encountered pathogen is ________.

a. IgM

b. IgA

c. IgG

d. IgE

Renin is made by ________.

a. granular cells of the juxtaglomerular apparatus

b. the kidneys

c. the nephrons

d. all of the above

The time between 542–488 million years ago marks

which period?

a. Cambrian period

b. Silurian period

c. Ediacaran period

d. Devonian period

A scientist randomly mutates the DNA of a bacterium. She then sequences the bacterium’s daughter cells, and finds that the daughters have many errors in their replicated DNA. The parent bacterium likely acquired a mutation in which enzyme? 

a. DNA ligase 

b. DNA pol II 

c. Primase 

d. DNA pol I 

In the English Channel ecosystem, the number of primary producers is smaller than the number of primary consumers because________. a. the apex consumers have a low turnover rate b. the primary producers have a low turnover rate c. the primary producers have a high turnover rate d. the primary consumers have a high turnover rate 

What law of chemistry determines how much energy can be transferred when it is converted from one form to another? a. the first law of thermodynamics b. the second law of thermodynamics c. the conservation of matter d. the conservation of energy 

Which mechanism of hormonal stimulation would be

affected if signaling and hormone release from the

hypothalamus was blocked?

a. humoral and hormonal stimuli

b. hormonal and neural stimuli

c. neural and humoral stimuli

d. hormonal and negative stimuli

What is the most abundant antibody class detected in the serum upon reexposure to a pathogen or in reaction to a vaccine?

a. IgM

b. IgA

c. IgG

d. IgE

Patients with Addison's disease ________.

a. retain water

b. retain salts

c. lose salts and water

d. have too much aldosterone

Breastfed infants typically are resistant to disease because of ________.

a. active immunity

b. passive immunity

c. immune tolerance

d. immune memory

Which hormone elicits the “fight or flight” response?

a. epinephrine

b. mineralocorticoids

c. anti-diuretic hormone

d. thyroxine

Where are parasympathetic preganglionic cell bodies located? 

a. cerebellum 

b. brainstem 

c. dorsal root ganglia 

d. skin 

Which of the following is not a true statement comparing prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA replication? 

a. Both eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA polymerases build off RNA primers made by primase. 

b. Eukaryotic DNA replication requires multiple replication forks, while prokaryotic replication uses a single origin to rapidly replicate the entire genome. 

c. DNA replication always occurs in the nucleus. 

d. Eukaryotic DNA replication involves more polymerases than prokaryotic replication. 

The movement of mineral nutrients through organisms and their environment is called a ________ cycle. a. biological b. bioaccumulation c. biogeochemical d. biochemical 

Allergy to pollen is classified as:

a. an autoimmune reaction

b. immunodeficiency

c. delayed hypersensitivity

d. immediate hypersensitivity

________ is released by motor nerve endings onto muscle. 

a. Acetylcholine 

b. Norepinephrine 

c. Dopamine 

d. Serotonin 

Why is excretion important in order to achieve osmotic balance?

Flies are_______. 

a. chelicerates 

b. hexapods 

c. arachnids 

d. crustaceans 

During proofreading, which of the following enzymes reads the DNA? 

a. primase 

b. topoisomerase 

c. DNA pol 

d. helicase 

Genomics can be used on a personal level to: 

a. decrease transplant rejection 

b. predict genetic diseases that a person may have 
inherited 

c. determine the risks of genetic diseases for an 
individual’s children 

d. all of the above 

A potential cause of acquired autoimmunity is ________.

a. tissue hypersensitivity

b. molecular mimicry

c. histamine release

d. radiation exposure

Parkinson’s disease is caused by the degeneration of neurons that release ________. 

a. serotonin 

b. dopamine 

c. glutamate 

d. norepinephrine 

Which of the following hormones is not produced by the anterior pituitary? 

a. oxytocin 

b. growth hormone 

c. prolactin 

d. thyroid-stimulating hormone 

A high ankle sprain is an injury caused by over-stretching the ligaments connecting the tibia and fibula. What type of joint is involved in this sprain? 

1. ball and socket 
2. gomphosis 
3. syndesmosis  
4. symphysis 

Why do electrolyte ions move across membranes by active transport?

Autoantibodies are probably involved in:

a. reactions to poison ivy

b. pollen allergies

c. systemic lupus erythematosus

d. HIV/AIDS

How does the polygastric digestive system aid in digesting roughage?