IBDP Biology Question Analysis Topic: Biology - Short Questions
Exam Questions:
1) (a) How has the development of bioreactor helped in biotechnology?
(b) Name the most commonly used bioreactor and describe its working.
2) (a) Name the source plant of heroin drug. How is it obtained from the plant?
(b) Write the effects of heroin on the human body.
Answers:
For IBDP Biology, you should know:
1) (a) Bioreactors serve to carry out biochemical processes that use microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, plant and mammalian cells in order to produce biological products.
Its invention has helped biotechnology in many ways, such as:
1. Better temperature and pressure control
2. Ease of measurement (of pH, temperature, etc.)
3. Automatic stirring
4. Aerators if oxygen is needed
5. Highly efficient and safe, too
6. Biotech processes can be conducted without leakage into surroundings
7. Automation
(b) Most commonly used is the simple stirred tank bioreactor. It's comprised of two parts: a reactor and a mixer.
Such reactors perform homogenization, suspension of solids, gas-liquid mixture dispersion as well as the aeroation of liquid or heat exchanges. This bioreactor is useful for immobilized enzymes with relatively low activity or for substrates that have a high viscocity. Inversely, a flaw is that the immobilized enzymes tend to decompose upon stirring.
2) (a) Heroin is obtained from the opium poppy plant. It is present in the plant's latex, where morphine is extracted then converted via chemical processes into heroin.
(b) Effects include respiratory depression as well as euphoria. It is a depressant and highly addictive. Long-term use causes kidney problems.
Work hard for your IBDP Biology examination!
End of analysis. Great!