staying alive

pathogen

a microbe that causes disease

vaccine

dead or inactive pathogens that stimulate antibody and memory cell production

antigen

proteins found on the surface of cells

the part of the pathogen that triggers the immune system to make antibodies

antibody

y shaped protein made by WBC to find and destroy pathogens

herd immunity

more people vaccinated so there is less people to spread the disease

pros of vaccines

* controlled lots of communicable diseases
* epidemics prevented
* prevention is better than care

antibiotics

cure bacterial diseases i.e penicillin

what did fleming see on his agar plate

circle of dead bacteria

what could happen if someone stops taking antibiotics before all the bacteria is killed

the bacteria can mutate and develop a resistence to the antibiotic

placebo

a fake or control drug that does not affect the body

4 stages of developing a new drug

1. tested on human cells in a lab - preclinical
2. tested on 2 different mammals - preclinical
3. tested on healthy humans - clinical
4. tested on sick humans by placebo effect - clinical

why do we test the drug on healthy humans before sick humans

because they have an immune system to bounce back on

what are the 3 things we check for a drug

* Efficacy - does it produce the right effect
* Toxicity - How harmful it is
* Dosage - what concentration to be given and what time it should be took

digitalis

treats heart conditions

originates from foxgloves

aspirin

painkiller

originates from willow tree

penicillin

kills or stops bacteria

originates from the fungus penicillium notatum

what is a blind trial

patients don’t know which is the placebo

double blind trial

patients and doctors don’t know which is the placebo

how do we make monoclonal antibodies

1. inject a mouse with a certain antigen
2. B-lymphocyte in mouse makes antibodies
3. take a tumour cell which can continually divide and make new cells
4. combine the tumour cell with the B-lymphocyte to make the hybridoma
5. identify the hybridoma that makes the right antibodies
6. clone the chosen hybridoma
7. purify the clones to only let the antibodies remain

magic bullets

monoclonal antibodies can be designed to be attached with a anti-cancer drug and target cancer cells

why aren’t magic bullets widely used

in clinical trials people have experienced bad side effects

risk factor

increases the chance of getting the disease

if you are pregnant what happens on a pregnancy test

1. urine added which contains HCG
2. urine travels through the reaction zone and urine binds to the mobile antibodies
3. HCG bound mobile antibodies travel up to the results window and bind to the antibodies there
4. the antibodies which didn’t bind to HCG in the reaction zone travel up and bind to the antibodies in the control window
5. 2 lines of blue should appear in the both windows

if your not pregnant what happens on a pregnancy test

1. the urine is added but does not contain HCG
2. there is no HCG in the urine so it cannot bind to the antibodies in the results window
3. antibodies can only bind to the ones in the control window
4. only 1 line of blue will appear in the control window

what do normal cells do

they grow and divide to replace old or damage cells and then STOP dividing

how does cancer occur

when ABNORMAL cells grow and divide OUT OF CONTROL forming a tumour

tumour

a lump of cells

benign tumour

Benign Batman:

not dangerous, tumour that is confined to one place

doesn’t invade other tissues

Malignant tumour

Malignant Maleficent:

dangerous, tumour that is not confined to one place and spreads around the body

can form secondary tumours

examples of risk factors for cancer

genetics

smoking

obesity

UV exposure

viral infections