VCE Biology Question Thread

[tashhhaaa]

Okay cheers guys

Refering to rational drug design, are the drugs only being designed for pathogenic agents? Like for example, can biologists/chemists make drugs that inhibit certain enzymes? Is this an example of rational drug design? Also what about when someone has pain, can drugs be taken to like either act like enzymes and break down the neurotransmitters whilst diffusing through the synaptic cleft, or like bind on the post synaptic membrane receptors and block neurotransmitters from binding, hence no action potential is triggered to the adjacent neurone?

I feel like a doctor

wait -- we never did anything like that at school... Thought it wasn't in the course?

[Maca 13]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if we need to know anything about cyclic and non-cyclic phosphorylation?
Thanks! 

[tashhhaaa]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if we need to know anything about cyclic and non-cyclic phosphorylation?
Thanks! 

i c u

[cosine]

wait -- we never did anything like that at school... Thought it wasn't in the course?

Cheers mahler004

Tashhhaaa, neither did we, but apparently it's on the study design so best for us to actually learn it. My class skipped plant immunity, cellular respiration, plant hormones, pheromones and we also skipped natural and acquired immunity. Just goes to show that we have to be on top of things constantly xD

[BakedDwarf]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if we need to know anything about cyclic and non-cyclic phosphorylation?
Thanks! 

Nope, it's not in the course.
_______________________________

I don't understand question 2. The worked solutions say that the answer is C but why is that? I assumed it was A because there are a higher proportion of people with the dominant allele than the recessive allele and hence people with the dominant allele are better suited to the environmental conditions.

[Maca 13]

Nope, it's not in the course.

Thanks!

[vox nihili]

Cheers mahler004

Tashhhaaa, neither did we, but apparently it's on the study design so best for us to actually learn it. My class skipped plant immunity, cellular respiration, plant hormones, pheromones and we also skipped natural and acquired immunity. Just goes to show that we have to be on top of things constantly xD

Don't fret guys, mahler was just adding extra info, most of what he said was outside the course. In terms of VCE Biol, you need to know that rational drug design is using information about a target to design a drug that can do something to that target. You don't need to know exactly how that is done. However, for completeness and in order to gain an understanding about how it all works, mahler's explanation was fantastic.

[mahler004]

Don't fret guys, mahler was just adding extra info, most of what he said was outside the course. In terms of VCE Biol, you need to know that rational drug design is using information about a target to design a drug that can do something to that target. You don't need to know exactly how that is done. However, for completeness and in order to gain an understanding about how it all works, mahler's explanation was fantastic.

Ah whoops. I had a 'not in VCE' disclaimer but I must have deleted it by accident.

[tashhhaaa]

Cheers mahler004

Tashhhaaa, neither did we, but apparently it's on the study design so best for us to actually learn it. My class skipped plant immunity, cellular respiration, plant hormones, pheromones and we also skipped natural and acquired immunity. Just goes to show that we have to be on top of things constantly xD

Oh really? :S I keep missing it in the study design lol or is it sort of ambiguously embedded in there

Don't fret guys, mahler was just adding extra info, most of what he said was outside the course. In terms of VCE Biol, you need to know that rational drug design is using information about a target to design a drug that can do something to that target. You don't need to know exactly how that is done. However, for completeness and in order to gain an understanding about how it all works, mahler's explanation was fantastic.

it's not even in my textbook tbh

is it one of those things where info will be provided about it in a question and we apply our knowledge?

[vox nihili]

it's not even in my textbook tbh

is it one of those things where info will be provided about it in a question and we apply our knowledge?

It's something that they do expect you to know. It's all pretty self-explanatory though to be honest. Study the biology of a disease, be it an infectious disease or otherwise, find a molecular target and then design a drug that interferes with that target.

The example mahler gave above of zanamivir was created because researchers were able to identify an enzyme in influenza that was critical for its life-cycle. By designing a drug that was able to inhibit that enzyme, they were able to kill the flu virus.

[Sine]

A question on Grade distributions.
In 2013 the A+ cut off was 93/110
In 2014 the A+ cut off was 96/110

Even though it was thought that the 2014 exam was much harder and most people were predicting that it would drop to the high 80's .
With the high cut offs the scaling practically remained the same would this mean there was a lot of people between 96-98. (just really curious how this would happen)

(Repost)

[pi]

Scaling isn't necessarily a reflection about how hard a subject or a particular exam is. It's more about the cohort who does the subject.

I can't remember the details about this but it really isn't worth worrying about, you can't do anything about it.

[Maca 13]

Hey everyone, do we need to know about viroids at all?
Thanks

[pi]

Hey everyone, do we need to know about viroids at all?
Thanks

Not really.

[Maca 13]

Not really.

Oh, OK, thanks!