NATS1670 Flashcards

Question	Answer
Microbes	A microorganism, especially bacterium causing disease. Commonly beneficial for humans.
Chronic disease	A disease lasting three or more months.
Acute disease	A disease that comes on rapidly and lasts a short time.
Tuberculosis	A chronic disease taking ~30 years to kill the host. Has been around for 10,000 years, and can be spread easily person-person or person-environment.
Ebola	An acute virus with a high likelihood of death shortly after exposure. Has been around for 40 years. Transferred from bats to humans.
The Spanish Flu	A pandemic occurring in 1918 and likely originated in Kansas that caused 50+ million deaths worldwide. Also called H1N1.
Antibiotic resistance	A mutation in some diseases allowing them to persist despite antibiotic use.
Reservoir	The natural origin of a disease. Examples: AIDS and chimps, SARS and bats, West Nile Virus and wild birds.
Bioterrorism	Intentional release of a bacteria, virus or toxin for the purpose of harming or killing civilians. Ex: The anthrax attack of 2001.
Eradication	Complete removal of a disease from all of the population.
Smallpox	A longstanding, extremely aggressive disease that was eradicated in the 1980s. Was identifiable by facial blisters and used as a bio-weapon in French-native conflict.
Microscopes	Visual aid for observing microorganisms developed in the mid 1600s. Comes in Light microscopy and Electron microscopy.
Unicellular	Made up of just one cell. Ex: Bacteria and yeast.
Multicellular	Made up of multiple cells. Ex: Humans, most plants and animals.
Prokaryotes	Lacking in a nucleus, no RNA processing, no organelles, cell wall. Ex: bacteria and cyanobacteria.
Eukaryotes	Developed nucleus and RNA processing (requires a nucleus). Ex: Skeletal muscle cells, motor neurons and fat cells.
Cell membrane	Separates the inside of the cell from the outside, and regulates what enters and exits.
DNA	Deoxyribonucleic acid, the carrier of genetic information.
RNA	Ribonucleic acid, usually the messenger of genetic information in the cell. Can be the carrier of genetic information in some viruses.
Virus	An infective agent too small to be seen by light microscopy, and dependent on the replicating functions of other cells to multiply. Not living, and cannot make proteins.
Phospholipid bilayer	The membrane of a cell consisting of the hydrophilic head group and the hydrophobic tail group. Has a positive charge outside, and a negative charge inside.
Signal transduction	The sending of a message to a cell through the membrane from the outside. Cancer uses this to tell cells to replicate too much, causing tumors.
Vesicles	A pod that fuses to the plasma membrane, allowing molecules inside to pass through. Viruses may also use this technique.
Cytoplasm	Material in the cell excluding the nucleus. Includes: organelles, mitochondria, lysosomes, and the thick fluid suspending everything in the cell.
Mitochondria	The powerhouse of the cell
Organelles	Membrane-enclosed organelles providing discrete compartments where specific cellular activities take place. Only in eukaryotic cells.
Lysosomes	The clean-up crew of the cell. Break down molecules into their base components using strong digestive enzymes.
Golgi apparatus	An organelle that stores and modifies proteins for specific functions, notably lysosomes.
Nucleus	Storage in the cell containing genetic material. The largest organelle we have. Contains DNA, RNA and proteins.
Nucleolus	Contained in the nucleus of a cell, responsible for ribosomal RNA synthesis and the formation of ribosomes.
Endoplasmic reticulum	An organelle in the cytoplasm. Usually connected to ribosomes and is involved in protein and lipid synthesis.
Prokaryotic cell shapes	Include bacillus (rod-like), spirillum (spiral-shaped), coccus (spherical), strepto-coccus (divided at the ends), and vibrio (curved rods).
Psychrophiles	Prokaryotic cells growing best below 20 degrees. Can survive in glaciers.
Mesophiles	Prokaryotic cells growing best between 20-50 degrees. Can be found in hot springs and humans.
Acidiophiles	Prokaryotic cells growing best at pH of 1-2. Examples include helicobacter pylori in the stomach.
Neutrophiles	Prokaryotic cells growing best at near neutral pH.
Alkaphile	Prokaryotic cells growing best at pH as high as 9.
Halophiles	Prokaryotic cells growing best at high salt concentrations.
Methanophiles	Prokaryotic cells growing best with large supplies of methane.
Aerobic	Prokaryotic cells requiring oxygen for growth.
Anaerobic	Prokaryotic cells that cannot survive oxygen
Cyanobacteria	Blue-green bacteria that can perform photosynthesis using water as an electron-donating substrate. Produces molecular oxygen.
Bacteria	Unicellular organisms that lack organelles and an organized nucleus, and can sometimes cause disease. One of the three 'Kingdoms of Life'.
Archaea	Similar to bacteria, but have major differences in their cell wall, allowing them to thrive in extreme conditions. One of the three 'Kingdoms of Life'.
Eukarya	Organisms with nuclei including fungi, yeast, mold and protozoa. Developed into plants and animals. One of the three 'Kingdoms of Life'.
The Central Dogma	The flow of information in a cell. DNA (information storage) is expressed by transcription into RNA. RNA translates into proteins. Proteins form phenotypes.
Genome	The complete set of genetic material in an organism. For humans, it consists of 23 pairs of genes that are 6 feet long stretched out.
Atoms	The smallest chemical unit of matter.
Molecules	Two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds.
Phosphodiester Bond	The linkage between phosphate groups on the 5' carbon of one nucleotide and the OH group on the 3' of another, allowing DNA and RNA to form in chains.
Chargaff's Rule	Bases come in matching pairs of A/T and G/C. There will always be equal amounts. Ex. If you have 10% adenine you will have 10% thymine, 40% guanine and 40% cytosine.
Duplication	The replication of DNA, wherein it 'unzips' the DNA and uses DNA polymerase to replicate and make a new strand.
Uracil	The RNA equivalent of thymine, paired with adenine.
RNA Polymerase	An enzyme responsible for synthesizing an RNA transcript from a DNA template.
Regulatory Region	The sequence of bases in DNA controlling initiation of transcription.
Transcribed region	The sequence of bases that are read into functional molecules (DNA and protein).
Termination site	The sequence of nucleotides in DNA that stop transmission from polymerase.
Transcription	The process of releasing information contained in a DNA sequence. Contains three steps: initiation, elongation and termination.
Mutation	Any change in an organism's DNA sequence. Can be harmful or beneficial.
Point mutation	A change in a single nucleotide of DNA. Includes silent, missense and nonsense mutations.
Silent Mutation	A change of a base in DNA that does not alter the amino acid sequence.
Missense mutation	A point mutation that causes a change in the amino acid sequence of the protein.
Nonsense mutation	A point mutation that creates a stop codon, ending the production of the protein entirely.
Frameshift mutation	Insertion or deletion mutations that change all subsequent amino acid sequences.
Immune System	The body's form of protection from and response to foreign invading organisms and altered host cells.
Intrinsic/physiological barriers	External methods preventing infection such as skin, gastrointestinal tract pH, saliva, mucus, etc.
Innate immunity	The body's immediate response to infection. Does not have immunological memory, and is not specific. Also called 'nonspecific immunity'.
Adaptive immunity	Slower acting immune response with immunological memory and a developing specificity- one cell can recognize one pathogen. Also called 'specific immunity'.
Antigens (Ag)	Substances that induce a specific immune response and subsequently react with the products of a specific immune response. They cover the surface of pathogens.
Antibodies (An/Ig)	Cells produced by plasma cells in response to an antigen that can respond specifically to that antigen. Have two arms to grab antigens, and an Fc receptor for macrophages to attach to.
Macrophages	White blood cells that envelop and consume foreign substances, cancer cells, cellular debris, microbes, etc. A part of the immune response.
Neutralization	Ig 'neutralizes' the toxins by binding to the port of an A-B toxin, preventing it from activating.
Agglutination	Ig creates complexes of large, easily sedimented antigens together.
Precipitation	Ig creates complexes of soluble molecule antigens.
Complement Activation	Antibodies bound to a pathogen create holes in the bacteria.
Opsonization.	Ig binds to the pathogen, 'buttering' it to entice macrophages to 'eat' it. Lysosomes inside the macrophage destroy the pathogen.
Clonal Selection	An immunological response. When ~5-10 antibodies encounter their antigen and rapidly multiply to approximately 10^6 antibodies.
Immunological Memory	The ability of an immune system to respond more quickly and effectiely to pathogens that have been encounterd previously. (uses memory cells).
Passive immunization	When the body is injected with the antibodies against a pathogen that deal with the infection.
Active immunization	When the body is presented with antigens that allow it to develop memory cells and antibodies itself.
Variolation	Inoculation with the wild-type organism. Began through sniffing smallpox dust in China in ~2000 BC.
Live attenuated vaccines	The patient is injected with a less virulent form of a disease, protecting them from the more virulent form.
Herd immunity	When the majority of the population is immunized, protecting those who cannot be immunized. Ex: MMR vaccines.
Kill organisms	A vaccination procedure wherein the virions are inactivated by chemical procedures (infectivity and ability to replicate are eliminated). Ex: Influenza vaccine, Salk's polio vaccine, modern rabies vaccine.
Subunit vaccination	When a small fragment of the virus is cloned using yeast/bacterial cells to make helpful proteins for the body.
Bacterial Exotoxins	Vaccination wherein enzymes destroy the active side of AB toxins, turning them into toxoids (non-active toxins with binding ports).
Serum sickness	The body's averse reaction to medicine containing proteins to help with immune reactions. Can also react to antiserum.
Cutter Incident	A vaccine tragedy caused by Cutter laboratories wherein 40,000 cases of polio virus infection were caused, 200 children were left in various stages of paralysis and 10 died.
Andrew Wakefield	A fraudulent doctor who wrote a paper implying that MMR causes gastrointestinal inflammation, which in turn causes autism. Sparked an anti-vaccination movement.
Allergic reaction	A two-stage reaction that involves sensitization, then reaction. Must involve IgE to be considered an allergic reaction.
Asthma	An allergic reaction wherein inhaled allergens cause inflammation, and induces bronchial smooth muscle to over-secrete mucus and contract.
Histamine	An inflammatory chemical released by mast cells and basophils, commonly involved in allergic reactions.
Anaphylactic shock	Degranulation of many mast cells all at one, causing large amounts of released histamine and inflammatory mediators. Involves fluid leakage from blood vessels and swelling larynx.
Epinephrine	A drug used in treatment of anaphylactic shock that neutralizes many mechanisms of anaphylaxis for a period of time.
Hygene hypothesis	The theory that young exposure to bacteria and other antigens can reduce instances of allergy.
Lytic growth cycle	The replication cycle of a virus wherein it enters a cell, uses interior mechanisms to multiply, then exits the cell.
Lysogenic cyle	The viral replication cycle wherein viral genes are incorporated into the host's chromosome and transmitted to the host's daughter cells. Can evolve into the lytic growth cycle.
Herpes	An extremely common family of viruses including chickenpox, shingles, herpes simplex and more.
Oncogenic viruses	Viruses with cancer-causing properties. Includes Epstein-Barr Virus, Herpes virus type 8, HPV and Hepatitis B and C.
Lysis	The process wherein viruses multiply excessively inside the cell, then break it open and exit.
Interferons	Signalling proteins by host cells in response to pathogens, intended to increase anti-viral defenses of nearby cells.

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	Created by Brianna Murphy about 7 years ago