IB DP Biology 1.1 Introduction to cells Question Bank HL Paper 1

Question

Which living structure is an exception to the cell theory?

    1. Striated muscle fibres

    2. A single-celled alga carrying out all of the functions of life

    3. The artificial synthesis of the organic molecule urea

    4. A multicellular organism with cells undertaking specialized roles.

▶️Answer/Explanation

Ans: A

Striated muscle fibers are exception to cell theory because striated muscle fibers counters the concept of cell theory that the cell is smallest unit of life but, striated muscle fibers are much larger than most of cells. An average length of muscle cell is 30mm to 300mm whereas there are majority of animal cells having average length of 0.01mm to 0.10mm. Even striated muscle fibers are much more large in length then a single celled animal, Mycoplasmas are only 0.1 to 0.3 micrometer in length.

Question

Stargardt’s disease, a genetic disorder that causes vision loss, is being treated using retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. Why are embryonic stem cells used?

    1. They are already specialized for this function.

    2. They are able to differentiate into the required cell type.

    3. They retain stem cell properties after specialization.

    4. There are no ethical issues concerning their use.

      ▶️Answer/Explanation

      Ans: B

      The characteristic of stem cells that makes them useful for treating Stargardt’s disease is their ability to differentiate into retinal cells. Stargardt’s disease is a genetic disorder that affects the retina and causes vision loss. Stem cells have the potential to differentiate into various cell types, including retinal cells, which can be transplanted into the affected eye to replace damaged or lost cells. This can potentially restore vision in individuals with Stargardt’s disease. Stem cells can be derived from various sources, including embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and adult stem cells.

Question

The giant alga Acetabularia has a feature that suggests it is an exception to the cell theory. What feature is this?

A. It lacks a nucleus.

B. It lacks a cell wall.

C. It has only one mitochondrion.

D. It lacks subdivision into separate cells.

▶️Answer/Explanation

Markscheme

D

Giant algae Acetabularia are the exception to cell theory because they contradicts the concept of of cell theory that a cell is the smallest unit of life, but the giant algae Acetabularia  may grow up to length of 5cm and most amazing are a single cell structure, means are not subdivided into separate microscopic cells. However, they looks alike multicellular organism but are unicellular organism.

Question

What provides evidence for the endosymbiotic theory?

A. Mitochondrial DNA in eukaryotic cells
B. 70S ribosomes in prokaryotic cells
C. Gene transfer from prokaryotic cells to eukaryotic cells using plasmids
D. Prokaryotic cells (Escherichia coli) in the large intestine digest proteins

▶️Answer/Explanation

Markscheme

A

Endosymbiosis is simply a organism living within another organism with a symbiotic relationship. Mitochondria provides energy at a cellular level and reproduce within your cells. Their numbers map to cell health, athletic ability and aging. Strenuous exercise promotes their numbers. Mitochondrial DNA has limited yet very important role in transcribing crucial proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation reactions. Mitochondrial DNA contains 37 genes, all of which are essential for normal mitochondrial function. Thirteen of these genes provide instructions for making enzymes involved in oxidative phosphorylation. The remaining 24 genes are involved in the creation of transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) which help to turn amino acids into proteins. The important thing about their DNA is that mitochondria are only passed from the mother to children. They are too big and heavy for sperm to carry about. Thus, geneticists can use mitochondrial DNA to trace the maternal linkage.

Question

Which characteristic of stem cells makes them useful for treating Stargardt’s disease?

A. They can differentiate into retinal cells.
B. They are readily available from especially created embryos.
C. They transport white blood cells to the eyes.
D. They divide by binary fission so provide sufficient cells.

▶️Answer/Explanation

Markscheme

A

The characteristic of stem cells that makes them useful for treating Stargardt’s disease is their ability to differentiate into retinal cells. Stargardt’s disease is a genetic disorder that affects the retina and causes vision loss. Stem cells have the potential to differentiate into various cell types, including retinal cells, which can be transplanted into the affected eye to replace damaged or lost cells. This can potentially restore vision in individuals with Stargardt’s disease. Stem cells can be derived from various sources, including embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and adult stem cells.

Question

Scenedesmus is a microscopic, unicellular green alga. However, it often exists as multicellular colonies of cells.

The magnification of the image is 500×. What is the length of one cell?
A. 10nm
B. 50 μm
C. 20 μm
D. 10mm

▶️Answer/Explanation

Ans:C

Scenedesmus is a small, nonmotile, colonial green alga consisting of cells aligned in a flat plate. The colonies most often have two or four cells, but may have 8, 16, or rarely 32 and are occasionally unicellular and smaller in length of average 11micrometers to 20 micrometers. They may appear multicellular just because colonial in nature, the main difference in between a multicellular organism and a colonial organism is that the individual organisms that form a colonies are if separated can survive on their own while cells from a multicellular organism  can notb survive.

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