Warm Up 5 is due Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 9:30 am.

WarmUp1, WarmUp1 Responses, WarmUp2, WarmUp2 Responses, WarmUp3, WarmUp3 Responses, WarmUp4, WarmUp4 Responses, WarmUp5,

QUESTION 1: Anemia is a disease that is caused by abnormally low hemoglobin levels or too few red blood cells. What do you think happens in the body cells of people who are anemic that makes them feel tired and weak? Please read the notes before answering this question!

From rm: Q1 = If a person has low hemoglobin levels or low RBC count, they aren't getting the right amount of oxygen that they need. Hemoglobin is a protein that in RBC's that carries oxygen throughout the body. So, the fewer amount of RBC's and/or hemoglobin, the less oxygen the person gets. Oxygen is needed for cellular respiration, which gives us energy (ATP). Low oxygen levels and carbon dioxide buildup make us feel tired and weak.

From smiley: Q1 = I think the bodies cells are not carrying enough oxygen. Not enough oxygen is present in the cells to make each glucose molecule produce 38 ATPs. Normally, 38 ATPs would create lots of energy and if a bodies cell lacks this, they would become tired and weak.

From crazy eye: Q1 = If you don't have enough red blood cells, you don't have enough oxygen to breack down the glucose in your body then you will not be able to make up enough ATPs in order to have enough energy to function properly.

From Annie: Q1 = There isn't enough oxygen present in the cells. Therefore, the glucose molecules don't produce 38 ATP's. Not being able to produce ATP, will cut down on energy. That is what makes them feel tired.

Form ROthy: Q1 = Somewhere along the line Cellular Respiration is not occuring as it should be. This is probably happening because not enough glucose is getting broken down to make ATP. I could sure use some ATP to wake me up right now.

From ilovefutbol: Q1 = The cells do not get enough sugars and oxygen so they do not produce the ATPs that are necessary to have energy. Cells are not breaking down enough glucose to make energy to move, breathe, etc.

From Missy: Q1 = If there are fewer blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body, then there is less oxygen available for the mitochondria to use in the production of the ATP. Less readily available ATP means less energy for body functions.

QUESTION 2: Each minute, 300 million of your body cells die!!! (Don't worry - these cells are replaced by mitosis, or you would be dead in a very short time!) However, some of the body's cells last for years, and some divide every day. List three types of cells in your body you would think would be replaced frequently. List 2 types of cells you think would be replaced slowly, if at all.

From jeepchick: Q2 = quickly, i think would be blood and skin cells, and slowly or never maybe brain and nerve cells.

From JR: Q2 = I know our skin cells are constantly being replaced without us really knowing they are always falling off. Another cell that is being replaced would be blood cells, as they die off and are lost they have to be replaced so we can survive. I know our brain cells are not replaced. Once you lose them they are gone---thats sucks in my case. I would say alos the cells that make up the heart. Since the heart is a very complex and important muscle they cells would have to be the same.

From I'm Finally up HERE!!!: Q2 = Frequently- hair, skin, and blood cells
Slowly or not at all - Brain cells (not at all), muscle cells - slowly

From Pavonine: Q2 = Speedy cells: bone marrow, hair follicle cells, and gastrointestinal tract cells.
Slow-poke cells: nerve cells and brain cells

QUESTION 3: When cancer starts to spread throughout the body, one course of treatment is chemotherapy (read more about it in this week's Good For!). One very obvious effect of chemotherapy is that people generally lose all of their hair a few weeks after the drugs enter their system. Why do you think chemotherapy drugs cause a person's hair to fall out?

From HISH: Q3 = Medicines used in chemotherapry are aimed at cells that divide quickly Hair cells divide quickly.Also chemotherapy affects the whole body.THUS IT KILLS THE NEW FORMING CELLS AT THE BASE OF THE HAIR AND IT FALLS OUT.

From tom: Q3 = Antineoplastics work by stopping cell division in one or another stage of the cell cycle. Any human cells which divide frequently are also killed like cells in the hair follicles. While the chemo is killing the cancer by breaking down the cells it is also breaking down cells in your hair follicles making your hair eventually fall out.

From Boog-Imadeit!: Q3 = Strangely enough, I just learned about this in anatomy. Hair folicles are rapidly growing cells. Cancer is a bundle of cells that are reproducing at a rapid pace. They are an abnormally large bundle of cells. When the chemo is started... it is "told" to attack rapidly growing cells and so not only does it kill the cancer, but the hair follicles as well!! I thought that was interesting!!

From crispy: Q3 = anti-neoplastics.They cause cell death in any dividing cell. Since bone marrow and hair folicles are the ones most frequently being divided they die first, hopefully along with the rapid growing cancer cells. Another side effect of chemotherapy is the patient feels week ans tired all the time, that is because the red blood cell count goes down in the patient. Its almost like an anemia of the blood, all be it a short one.

From J PIDDY the Pidster or "PIDDY" Q3 = 3. Most anti-neoplastics work by stopping cell division in one or another stage of the cell cycle. They cause cell death in any dividing cell, and since most human cells are not dividing all the time, they preferentially kill cancer cells. But any human cell types which divide frequently are also killed: cells in the gastrointestinal tract, the bone marrow, and hair follicles.

QUESTION 4: Please answer this question: Do you enjoy reading the "What is Biology Good For" assignments? Do the Good Fors help you connect biology to the real world? Do your other classes help you connect the subject matter to the real world?

Q4 = Good fors are good and interesting and they don't take much time, so they're cool in my book. What is biology good for assignments take a little longer and feel more like homework, but i guess they are more like homework... right. The way this whole class is presented, and your enthusiasm during lectures make the subject matter much more interesting. I find myself acutally enjoying learning about biology. Am I officially a dork?:)

From Dr. Marrs: NO WAY ! SCIENCE RULES !!!! :)

The text of this "What is Biology Good For" exercise is copyrighted under the name of Dr. Kathleen A. Marrs, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003. There are no restrictions on its use by educators or by non-profit institutions as long as its content not modified, proper copyright acknowledgement is retained, and this statement is not removed.

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