PKU

Questions

1. What enzyme is most commonly defective in people with phenylketonuria?

PKU occurs when a person inherits a genetic mutation that disrupts the function of a crucial metabolic enzyme (PAH.) 

2. What reaction does this enzyme catalyze? (What is the substrate and what product is produced?)

This is an example of how a block occurs.  This causes a build up of PHe due to the lack of tyrosine.

3. Describe the symptoms of phenylketonuria.

• Delayed mental and social skills
• Head size significantly below normal
• Hyperactivity
• Jerking movements of the arms or legs
• Mental retardation
• Seizures
• Skin rashes
• Tremors
• Unusual positioning of hands

4. What causes the symptoms of PKU, the lack of a substance or the buildup of one?

It is the build up of substances. These substances are harmful to the central nervous system and cause brain damage.

5. How common is phenylketonuria? How is it treated?
 1 in 10000 have it, it is mainly found in Caucasians and east Asains.  It is hardly ever found in African Americans.  Treatment involves a diet that is extremely low in phenylalanine, particularly when the child is growing. 

Lactose intolerant research project

Here is the link where I found my information.

First we will start out with, what dose it mean. Or what is lactose intolerant?
Lactose intolerant is basically an intolerance to the sugar lactose.  Lactose sugar is found in milk and other milk products.  It is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme lactose.  Which is produced by cells in the smaller intestine.  These enzymes break lactose sugars down into simpler sugars like glucose.  A lot of people that are lactose intolerant, can stand to have some in there diet.

What causes lactose intolerance?
It starts to develop after the age of two.  Then the body starts to produce less lactose.  Most kids who are lactose intolerant, don't get the symptoms of it until a later age of adult hood.  Some people inherit this from there parents genes.  It can also be caused by damage to the small intestine.  Some illness's and other things can effect the way that your intestine works.

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance?
The symptoms can last for 30 mins to 2 hours, of pains anywhere form mild to sever after drinking or eating a lactose product.

Common symptoms included

*abdominal pain
*abdominal bloating
*gas
*diarrhea
*nausea

How is lactose intolerance managed?
A big factor to managing this is a diet.  People with this intolerance can stand some milk products, but it has to be gradual.  It also helps to digest it with some food.  This all helps to limit the symptoms, and can help eliminate them.  There is no way of getting rid of it, just ways of being wary of it.  This diet has to be figured out by the person, because it acts different for everyone.  Such as some people can drink a small glass of milk and have symptoms even up to sever.  While others can drink a large glass and be just fine.  It just depends on who you are and how your body can digest the amount of lactose you consume.

enzyme lab

prezi on enzyme lab.

Cell Structure

http://prezi.com/1xiwmny4vkai/cell-structure/

Cystic Fibrosis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n29ZCvtCI8&feature=fvst
1.  What are the signs and symptoms of cystic fibrosis?
The signs are simple, 70% are diagnosed by the age of 2.  One thing is you have a lot of mucus.  Its thick and in your lungs.  Another thing is that the people have salty sweat.

2.  How common is this disorder?
70,000 people world wide have it.  With 30,000 being in the U.S.

3.  How is cystic fibrosis diagnosed?
It's diagnosed by a test they can run.

4.  How is cystic fibrosis inherited?  Does everyone who has a mutant gene for the protein have cystic fibrosis?
It is inherited by the gene of a parent.  Not everyone ends up with the disease, but it is very likely to end up with it.

PART 2

1.  Explain the normal function of the protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis.
It helps function the cells in the body.

2.  What happens to this protein in CF patients and what are the consequences for the health of these individuals?
The protein can be blocked in places of the body, and the CF patients have trouble with getting their vitamins and minerals out of there food.  This is a lack of digestion.

PART 3

1.  Explain at least 3 treatments for the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.
Lung transplant therapy,  chest drainage therapy, and oxygen therapy.

2.  Discuss at least 3 ways for parents to help their children who have cystic fibrosis.
Enroll them into sports, make them laugh, or hit them on the back.  As long as the mucus is coming up you are doing your part.

Osmosis Lab

In our Osmosis lab we tested four different substances.  These substances consisted of methyl cellulose, cereal, corn starch, and tums.  Each of the substances had some water added to it.  We put each substances in a membrane, then into a cup of water.  This was a way to see how it would react.  We decided to see how much water was transferred by weight.  We had a weight before we put it in water, then a weight after the 24 hour soak.  Some transferred more water than others, but they all gained weight.

Substance                beginning weight oz.      after 24 hour soak  oz.

methyl cellulose               4.71                            9.55
cereal                               9.69                            13.08
corn starch                       6.57                            6.98
tums                                 12.5                            17.79


The graph is proof of water transferring into the membrane.  On the corn starch the properties must not have been the same, because hardly any water diffused.  So in this lab we proved osmosis and diffusion exist.  This is proved by the change in weight after a 24 hour soak.

membrain structures

A cell is composed of two distinctive environments, the hydrophilic aqueous cytoplasm and the hydrophobic lipid membranes.  The lipids environment is defined by how they react to different hydrophobic nature.  We are learning about three members, fats, phospholipids, and steroids.  Lipis are slightly soluble to insoluble in water.  They are hydrophobic because the molecules consist of long hydrocarbon backbones.  Lipids can serve as many functions in organisms.  They are the major components of waxes, pigments, steroid hormones, and cell membranes.  Fats, steroids, and phospholipids are very important to the function of membranes.



Fats are synthesized from two different classes of molecules. Fatty acids are normally 16-22 carbons long. Fatty acids can be two types; saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fatty acids never have a carbon to carbon double bonds.  When the unsaturated fatty acids have 2 to 3 carbon to carbon bonds.  Unsaturated fatty acids have lower melting points than saturated fats.
                                                          Phospholipids


                                           


Phospholipids contain 2 fatty acids attached to a glycerol head.  A condensation reaction makes this occur.  The third alcohol of the glycerol forms an ester bond through reaction with phosphoric acid.  this is another example of a condensation reaction between an acid and an alcohol with the release of water.  The head of the phospholipid is hydrophilic, where the fatty acid tail is hydrophobic.  In an aqueous solution they will self assemble into micelles or bilayers.

                                                    Steriods

Steriods are a family of lipids based on a molecule with four fused carbon rings.  In this family there is hormones and cholesterol.  Cholesterol is a component of the cell memorial in animals, it moderates the membrane fluidity because it restricts the motion of the fatty acid tails.
                                              Fluid Quality of Membranes
The cell membrane must be dynamic in order for the cells to grow.  To keep the membrane fluid at physiological temperatures the cell alters the composition of phospholipids. You have to have the right ration of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes.  A low number of unsaturated fatty acids helps maintain the fluid nature of the cell membrane without it becoming to liquid at body temperature.
                                                 Proteins
Cells need a way to communicate with other cells because the cell membrane is only semipermeable.  These roles are primarily filled by proteins.  Membrane proteins are classified into two major categories, integral proteins, and peripheral proteins. Integral membrane proteins are those proteins that are embedded in he lipid bilayer and are generally characterized by their solubility in non-polar, hydrophobic solvents.  Transmembrane proteins are examples of integral proteins with hydrophobic regions that completely span the hydrophobic interior of the membrane. The hydrophilic proteins are the proteins exposed to the interior and exterior of the cell.  

cab lab prezi

Here is my prezi.

Web activity

1. What is a macromolecule?
They are normally a large molecule that is very biologically important. They are involved in all of the structures and processes of cells and organisms.

2. What is a monomer?
It is a small molecular structure that may be chemically bonded together to form long multipart polymer molecules.

3. What is a polymer?
A large molecule made up of similar or identical subunits called monomers.


4. List the four main types of macromolecules.
Proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids


5. What are the types of reactions that macromolecules are shown to undergo?
Hydrolysis reaction, and dehydration synthesis (also know as codensation reaction)


6. Describe how monomers are joined together.
By the dehydration synthethesis.


7. What is the specific name for the bond between simple sugar monomers?
Hydrolysis reaction.

8. Which kind of enzyme joins monomers together?
Ploymer enzymes.

9. Describe how you had to arrange the sugar monomers in order to build a polysaccharide.
To create a polysaccharide I added another monomer, and two hydogens and one oxygen atom attract to create water.

10. Which building blocks of macromolecules are not used in building carbohydrates?
nucleotide, Fatty acids, and amino acids.

11. Why is sugar stored as glycogen in the human body?
It is used to store up energy.

12. Why are plant foods essential to animal life?
Animals take advantage of plants because they are able to make sugar and other nutrients through sunlight, water, and sunlight.

13. Describe how starch is digested by animals?
It is digested in the stomach and intestines then stored as energy.

14. What is "fiber" and why is it important in you diet?
It is a carbohydrate polymer, found in vegetables and fruit. It is important to help digestion.

15. What causes you to pass gas according to the article?
The fermentation of carbohydrates.

16. What are some disadvantages of a low-cab diet?
It affects your bone and kidney health, and it provides cardiovascular risk factors.

17. Describe the role that sugars play in cavity formation in your teeth.
Sugars cause the bacteria to spread that cause cavities.

my acid lab

water

Water is a very unique liquid.  We did a few experiments on the properties of water.  Water has high surface tension.  In class we tested this by dropping water onto a penny.  The penny would eventually be bulging with water.  This property is called cohesion, it is when an object has the properties to stick to itself. It would be a big bubble, and then when it couldn't hold off gravity anymore.  It would burst and fall off the penny.  Later that day we did an experiment to see who could go with the longest string and get water from one beaker to the next.  This is showing the property of adhesion, where water can stick to other objects also. The object to get it to follow the string was get one straight up and down then pour water from the top and let it run off the string into the beaker bellow.  Water is a very unusual liquid.  No other liquid expands when it freezes, but we all know if we fill a bottle with water and freeze it the bottle will break under pressure.  This is good though because it causes ice to be less dense.  Think of it this way if ice was more dense than water, in mid winter a pond would freeze and the ice would sink.  Where would the animals go if the ice fell to the bottom.  They would all die.  So this is why the weird properties of water are so important to us and the animals around us.

controlled experiment

A controlled experiment is an experiment that is only changing one factor.  The independent variable is only changing one thing to see how it effects the dependent variable.  We did an experiment in class to see how different conditions change the growth of corn. In the corn experiment there was the option to add bugs.  If you added the bugs you found that, they damaged the overall yield of the corn.  The other way you can change the experiment is by changing the variety of corn.  If you want a controlled experiment then you have to do one at a time(bugs or variety). This is just one example of a controlled experiment.  In drug testing we usually use animals to test how a drug effects you.  A placebo is a drug in example, for people who need something to give them the will power to live.  It is basically a sugar pill given to make them think it is healing them.  It isn't exactly to tick them as much as to see if medicine will even help.  Its like a thing to make the people think they are on medicine will the doctor can see what will happen with no medicine.