Module 1-6 Final Exam

What is biomedical research?

Area of study devoted to the study of life and the prevention and treatment of disease.

Basic Research

Research conducted to increase the base knowledge of life processes and disease.

Translational Research

Research that is directed towards specific objectives such as the development of a new drug or therapy.

Clinical Research

Using the knowledge gained in basic and transitional research in a clinical setting.

What is the purpose of experimental design

Independent Variable

The factor in an experiment that you change or control.

Dependent variable

The factor in an experiment that can be measured or observed.

Discussion

Summarizes the main findings and connects them to the field. Also explains the results section.

Positive control

Part of an experiment that is designed to produce a known or expected result.

Negative Control

Part of an experiment that is designed to show no response or no effect.

Hypothesis

A clear testable statement about the experiment's.

Predictions

How are research questions formed?

Identifying a problem, focusing on the topic, and deciding what exactly you want to find out.

What does IMRAD stand for

Introduction methods results and discussion

What belongs in abstract?

Summarizes the whole study, provides a short overview including the main findings.

What belongs in introduction?

Discusses the current state of the field and what we already know about the topic also reveal some the gap of knowledge.

What belongs in methods?

Includes information about the test subjects or samples, the methodology, equipment, and resources used and how they were obtained

What belongs in the results?

This section reveals objective data with no explanation.

DNA Vs. RNA structure and function

What is the central dogma?

DNA to RNA to Protein

PCR purpose

To make many copies of a specific DNA segment

PCR steps

Denaturation, Annealing, and Extension

Restriction Enzymes

Proteins that cut DNA at specific sequences which allows scientists to analyze DNA.

Gel electrophoresis and what it separates

Technique used to separate DNA fragments based on size and charge.

DNA extraction (general steps)

Lysis, Separation, precipitation, and visualization.

Spectrophotometry/nanodrop

measures DNA by shining ultraviolet (UV) light through a sample and measuring how much light is absorbed at a specific wavelength

PCR

QPCR

A technique used to measure the amount of DNA or RNA in a sample as the PCR reaction is happening,

What DNA and RNA techniques answer specific research questions

Protein Structure and why proteins matter in disease

SDS-Page and how it separates proteins

Proteins separate by size – smaller ones move faster and farther through the gel

Western blot

identifies one protein from a mixture using antibodies

Primary antibody

Binds specifically to target protein

Secondary antibody

ELISA (how antibody Based detection works)

measures the amount of protein

What is cell culture

the process of removing cells from an animal or plant and cultivating them in a controlled, artificial environment.

Difference between primary cells and immortalized cell lines

Primary cells are directly isolated from tissues and have a limited lifespan, while immortalized cell lines can divide indefinitely but may not fully represent normal physiology.

basic components of cell culture media

The mixture of basal medium plus serum is called complete culture medium, because it provides all the necessary components for cell survival and proliferation.

Purpose of trypsinization

Used to break the focal adhesions that are anchoring the cell-culture dish as well as the cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion, so we can harvest individual cells

Why cells require controlled temperature and sterile conditions

So cells ca properly grow and survive.

What is a hemocytometer

is a specialized microscope slide designed to facilitate cell counting.

What trypan blue indicates

cells visualized in blue under the microscope will be assumed as dead while the rest would be living cells.

general idea of cell viability vs total cell number

Cell viability refers to the proportion of living, healthy cells in a population, whereas total cell number is simply the count of all cells, alive or dead.

Basic purpose of aseptic technique

set of procedures that reduces the probability of contamination from these sources.

Key elements of BSL 2 safety