PLTW Medical Interventions Unit 1 Study Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from the PLTW Medical Interventions Unit 1 study guide covering key terms, processes, and lab techniques.

Medical Intervention

Anything used to prevent, treat, or diagnose an illness (like a vaccine, a pill, or a test).

Outbreak

A sudden spike in the number of people getting sick in one specific area.

Pathogen

A germ that causes disease, like a virus or bacterium.

Genome

The complete instruction manual (DNA or RNA) inside a living thing.

Bioinformatics

Using computers and software to sort through and understand complex biological data like DNA.

BLASTn

A free online search engine where you paste an unknown DNA sequence to find out what germ or organism it belongs to.

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)

A lab technique that takes a tiny bit of DNA and makes millions of identical copies.

Denaturation

Heating/melting DNA at high temperatures during PCR to separate its two strands into single-stranded DNA.

Annealing

Cooling down DNA during PCR to a lower temperature so primers (starting pieces) can bind/attach to the DNA strands or template.

Extension

Warming up DNA during PCR so DNA polymerase enzymes can begin to build brand-new matching DNA strands starting from the primer.

ELISA

A lab test that uses color changes to detect specific germs or proteins in a patient's liquid sample.

ELISA (Mechanism)

Antigens from a patient sample bind to a well plate, a primary antibody attaches to the target antigen, an enzyme-linked secondary antibody binds to the primary antibody, and a substrate reacts with the enzyme to produce a color change.

ELISA (Benefit)

Provides rapid results that are both qualitative (identifying who is infected) and quantitative (determining how much antigen or antibody is present to trace outbreak path and severity).

Antigen

A foreign marker (usually on a germ) that alerts your body's immune system to attack.

Antibody

A protective protein made by your immune system that locks onto a specific antigen to neutralize it.

Qualitative Data

Information about qualities or presence, such as a simple "yes or no," observing a color change, or identifying who is infected.

Quantitative Data

Information you can measure with exact numbers, like counting the exact concentration of a pathogen or determining how much antigen or antibody is present.

Cycle Sequencing

A process similar to PCR that incorporates normal dNTPs and fluorescently tagged ddNTPs to halt synthesis, generating fragments sorted by size via capillary gel electrophoresis and read by a laser.

Cycle Sequencing (Benefit)

Allows scientists to determine the precise genetic code of an unknown pathogen isolated from a patient, which can be identified using bioinformatics tools like BLASTn.