9700_s12_qp_41
A paper of Biology, 9700
Questions:
10
Year:
2012
Paper:
4
Variant:
1

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For Examiner’s Use Some of the steps in the production of monoclonal antibodies are shown in . step 1 A mouse is injected with an antigen, A. step 2 The mouse is left for a few weeks to allow an immune response to occur. step 3 Plasma cells (effector B lymphocytes) are extracted from the mouse’s spleen. step 4 Hybridoma cells are formed. step 5 Each hybridoma cell is isolated and allowed to grow and divide. step 6 The hybridoma cells producing anti-A antibodies are identified and cultured on a large scale. With reference to , explain: what happens during an immune response (step 2) what is meant by a hybridoma cell (step 4) For Examiner’s Use why hybridoma cells need to be formed (step 4) how hybridoma cells producing anti-A antibody can be identified. For Examiner’s Use Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease in which T lymphocytes attack the cartilage of joints by secreting a protein, TNFα. When RA is untreated, joint damage increases considerably. The monoclonal antibody, infliximab, is used to treat RA. Infliximab specifically binds to TNFα. A trial was set up to compare the effectiveness of infliximab and a standard treatment for RA, the anti-inflammatory drug, MTX. Five groups of people with RA received the following treatments for one year: • group P – MTX only • group Q – MTX plus low dosage of infliximab at intervals of eight weeks • group R – MTX plus low dosage of infliximab at intervals of four weeks • group S – MTX plus high dosage of infliximab at intervals of eight weeks • group T – MTX plus high dosage of infliximab at intervals of four weeks. At the end of the year’s treatment, the proportion of people in each group with increased joint damage was determined. The results are shown in . The number of people in each group is shown in brackets. P (64) Q (71) R (71) S (77) T (66) group percentage of patients with increased joint damage number of patients For Examiner’s Use With reference to : describe the effect of infliximab treatment on these people suggest why the results in groups Q and R do not follow the general trend. Explain the advantages of the use of monoclonal antibodies, compared with conventional methods, in the diagnosis of disease.
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For Examiner’s Use shows the structure of a male flower of maize, Zea mays. With reference to , explain how two features of this flower adapt it for wind pollination. The corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, is an insect pest of maize. The larvae are caterpillars that eat the leaves of the maize plants. The adults can fly. Adult corn borers do not feed on maize plants. Much of the maize that is grown in the USA has been genetically modified to produce Bt toxin, which is lethal to insects that feed on the leaves. However, many populations of the corn borer have now evolved resistance to the Bt toxin. Explain how this resistance could have evolved. For Examiner’s Use The recessive allele, r, of the gene in corn borers confers resistance to Bt toxin. Larvae that are homozygous for the normal, dominant allele R, or that are heterozygous, are killed when they feed on Bt maize. State the genotype of the corn borers that successfully turn from larvae into adults in the fields where Bt maize is grown. In order to reduce the number of corn borers resistant to Bt toxin, farmers in the USA are required to grow up to 50% of their maize as non-Bt varieties. The non-Bt maize is grown in separate areas, called ‘refuges’, close to the fields of Bt maize. This is called the HDR strategy. Almost all corn borer larvae feeding on this non-Bt maize have the genotypes RR or Rr. The HDR strategy assumes that, when these become adults, they will interbreed with the adults developing in the Bt maize fields. Explain how the HDR strategy could reduce the proportion of corn borers that are resistant to the Bt toxin. For Examiner’s Use The HDR strategy works only if a high proportion of the adult corn borers developing in the Bt fields mate with adult corn borers from the non-Bt refuges. An investigation was carried out to determine the extent to which female corn borers mate with males from their own field, or from outside that field. • Several hundred male and female adult corn borers were marked and then released into a maize field that contained no corn borers. • After 36 hours, as many corn borers as possible were recaptured from the field and the number of marked and non-marked male and female corn borers was recorded. • The percentage of the marked females that had mated with marked males was also recorded. • This was repeated on four more occasions. The results are shown in Table 4.1. Table 4.1 trial percentage of recaptured males that were marked percentage of recaptured females that were marked percentage of marked females that had mated percentage of marked females that had mated with marked males With reference to the two shaded columns in Table 4.1, explain what the results indicate about the degree of mixing between corn borers from different fields. For Examiner’s Use With reference to Table 4.1, suggest and explain the implications of the results of this investigation for the effectiveness of the HDR strategy.
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