Activity
In this exercise, you will use the web links below to gather information about the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria. Use what you learn to answer the questions at the bottom of the page.

Your Genes, Your Health: Phenylketonuria
http://www.ygyh.org
NSPKU Home Page
http://www.nspku.org
Baby’s First Test (Look up “Classic PKU”)
Newborn Screening in Colorado
Phenylketonuria – The Genetics
http://willroberts.com/pku

Questions:
1. What enzyme is most commonly defective in people with phenylketonuria?

The enzyme that is most commonly defective in people with phenylketonuria is phenylalanine hydroxyl alanine . This is needed to break down an essential amino acid called phenylalanine. Foods that contain protein is this substances location. 

2. What reaction does this enzyme catalyze? (What is the substrate and what product is produced?)

It breaks down phenylalanine into tyrosine.

3. Describe the symptoms of phenylketonuria.

The symptoms of phenylketonuria consist of dry, scaly skin (known as eczema), musty or mouse-like body odor, developmental delays, seizures (epilepsy), pale hair or skin, restlessness or fussiness, and smaller than a normal head.

4. What causes the symptoms of PKU, the lack of a substance or the buildup of one? Explain.

The lack of tyrosine causes a build up of PHe and the gathering of this in other parts puts a halt to the brain developing normally, this adds to and worsens the other symptoms.

5. How common is phenylketonuria? How is it treated?

Phenylketonuria (PKU) appears in every one in ten thousand births. It is treated by being put on a low-protein diet permanently.

In this lab I used a microscope to view tiny things on a much larger scale. I also took a quiz over the usage of a microscope and got a smiley face on it :).

The most appealing thing I chose to view was a pine needle. I viewed it at many variable zoom settings. However, when I changed the view to 100 and focused it and this is what I saw.

This is edging of the pine needle at 100 times view. The colored parts are nuclei and the darker colored parts are even larger and thicker nuclei. Its not viewed here but there are colorless nuclei which are drained and taken to the darker nuclei.

Marcos, Dax, and I went to this website to watch tutorials and answer questions. o.davidson.edu/people/macampbell/111/memb-swf/membranes.swf

Quiz Questions and Answers:

1. _____ are the primary determinants of membrane structure, while _____ carry out membrane function.
   • Lipids, Proteins
2. List the molecular components common to all phosphoglycerides.  
   • Phosphate, Glycerol, Two fatty acids
3. State three classes of membrane lipids (Also name the most important one)
   • Glycolipids, Cholesterol, Phospholipids (Phospholipids)
4. What type of bonding dominates interactions between lipid tails and limits fluidity?
   • Van der Waals forces

Phospholipids- Contain two parts: Hydrophilic Heads (polar) and Hydrophobic Tails (non-polar)

Cholesterol- Makes the item firm and not so much of a liquid

Integral Protein- This protein goes all the way through the structure and determines what goes in and what goes out

Peripheral Protein- This lies on the outside of the structure

Glycoprotein- Searches for bonds and has carbohydrates attached to itself

Sugar Side Chains- Contains sugar for the structure

Part 1.

In this part of the activity you will visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s web site to learn about the causes and symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

Use your browser to go to: http://www.cff.org/home/

Use the information provided in the “About cystic fibrosis” section to answer the following questions:

1. What are the signs and symptoms of cystic fibrosis?

-Very salty-tasting skin

-Persistent coughing, at times with phlegm

-Frequent lung infections

-Freezing or shortness of breath

-Poor growth/weight gain in spite of a good appetite

2. How common is this disorder?

Around 1,000 new cases of CF are diagnosed each year. Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have Cystic Fibrosis.

3. How is cystic fibrosis diagnosed?

Most people are diagnosed at birth with a newborn screening, or before the age of two. Doctors who see symptoms of CF order a sweat test. The sweat test is a genetic test that confirms diagnosis.

4. How is cystic fibrosis inherited? Does everyone who has a mutant gene for the protein have cystic fibrosis?

To get Cystic Fibrosis the child must inherit two copies of the defective CF genes, one from each parent. If both parents are carriers of the genes their child will have a 25% chance of inheriting both genes, a 50% chance of being a carrier, and a 25% chance of not having CF or curing the gene.

Part 2.

In this part of the activity you will read an article to learn more about cystic fibrosis.

Use your browser to go to:

http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/MRC/3/page3.html

Use the information in this article to answer the following questions:

1. Explain the normal function of the protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis.

The normal function of the protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis is

Normally, the movements of the ions brings water the surface of the airway. This water keeps the mucus moist . So, the normal proteins function is to control the amount of chloride ions to the cells. This protein is named CF transport membrane regulator.

2. What happens to this protein in CF patients and what are the consequences for the health of these individuals?

The defective protein means that the protein is no longer regulating the amount of chloride ions in the cells. Causing blockage in the channels and drying out of the mucus.

Part 3.

In this part of the activity you will read about how cystic fibrosis is treated.

Use your browser to go to:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cystic-fibrosis/DS00287

Use the information in the different sections of the article to answer the following questions:

1. Explain at least 3 treatments for the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

Three treatments for Cystic Fibrosis are all medications, since there are no cures. They are antibiotics, mucus-thinning drugs, bronchodilators. The antibiotics are used to prevent lung infections and can be taken as a pill, inhaled, and many other ways. The mucus-thinning drugs reduce the mucuses stickiness making it easier to cough up and easier for the lungs to function. The bronchodilators are inhaled and keep the person’s airways open making it easier to breath.

2. Discuss at least 3 ways for parents to help their children who have cystic fibrosis.

Some home remedies for CF to help your child include better nutrition is to drink lots of fluids, keep immunizations up to date, exercise, eliminate smoke, and encourage your child to wash their hands.

Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to learn about the parts and functions of pant and animal cells.

Procedure: We created a presentation about plant and animal cells. In the presentation we added two self made and labeled models of cells, one model being a plant cell and the other being an animal cell. In the presentation we also  included the functions of all the cells parts.

 

Arsenic is a natural semi-metallic chemical that is found throughout the world in groundwater. The Poison can also be found in rocks, soil, air, plants and even animals. One of its main features that makes it very dangerous is that it has no taste or smell to indicate its presence. However it can be found in its pure form in steel gray metal. Arsenic Poison can enter your system by way of ingestion, absorption, and inhalation. Untreated, it can can cause many health complications, one of those being death. Arsenic was said to be used experimentally in some cancer treatments. It has been useful and in some  studies  shown to send the disease into remission and help to thin the blood. The treatment is still in the process of being tested but they hope for it to be more promising in the future. One of the main causes  for the spread of arsenic poisoning worldwide is the groundwater that people are drinking. It contains high levels of toxins and the water becomes contaminated by the rocks that release arsenic.

There are different types of symptoms that depend on the amount or way the arsenic is actually ingested. If the poison is ingested orally then within thirty minutes the first symptoms to appear are:
-Drowsiness
-Headaches
-Confusion
-Terrible diarrhea

Now is the arsenic is inhaled or a less concentrated amount has been ingested then the symptoms are most likely to be different and take longer to emerge. The patient that had taken the arsenic poison may start to suffer convulsion and their fingernail pigmentation may change also known as leukonychia. In more severe cases some of the cases could include:
-Metallic taste in mouth
-Mouth produces extra saliva
-Problems swallowing
-Blood in the urine

-Cramping muscles
-Loss of hair
-Stomach cramps
-Convulsion
-Excessive  sweating
-Breath smells like garlic  
-Diarrhea
-Vomiting

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to find and discover how and why BTB can change under certain conditions or injected with different materials or organisms.

Background Facts:

• Carbon dioxide in water produces carbonic acid.
• Bromothymol Blue (BTB) is a blue-green liquid which changes to a yellow color in acid and back to blue-green when returned to a neutral pH.
• Carbon dioxide plus water yields sugar and oxygen when chlorophyll and sunlight are present.
• Animals respire.
• Green plants photosynthesize in the light and respire all the time.
• Sugar plus oxygen yields carbon dioxide plus water and energy.

Materials:

-4 beakers of water
-Bromothymol Blue (BTB)
-2 Aquarium Snails
-2 Elodea (an aquarium plant)

Procedure: First, fill 4 beakers with 250 ml of water. Then place all the filled beakers in direct sunlight (window or outside in contained area , etc).With one beaker, add a few drops of BTB. Observe changes of that test over night. In another beaker, add a few drops of BTB and a snail. Observe those changes over night as well. In the other beaker, you should be on the third beaker now, add a few drops of BTB and a “water weed” plant otherwise know as the Elodea plant. Once again observe the changes of this test over night. In the last beaker, add a few drops of BTB, an aquarium snail, and an Elodea plant. Notice that these are the contents of the past three tests combined. One last time observe the changes of this final test over night. After observing changes for the last beaker over night, set that beaker in a very dark space for three hours and observe its changes after 3 hours.
Observations:

1. Water plus bromothymol blue is blue-green.
2. Water plus bromothymol blue plus an aquarium snail turns yellow.
3. Water plus bromothymol blue plus Elodea (an aquarium plant) is blue-green in light.
4. Water plus bromothymol blue plus a snail plus Elodea is blue-green in light and yellow when left in the dark for three hours.

 

Analysis and Conclusions:

1. Water plus bromothymol blue is blue-green because… The water is a neutral PH solution. No change will occur upon the BTB.
   
   
   2. Water plus bromothymol blue plus an aquarium snail turns yellow because… The snail breathes or respire thus releasing CO2.  Carbon dioxide releases a carbon acid and the BTB turns yellow in acidic solutions.
   
   
   3. Water plus BTB plus Elodea (the water weed) is blue-green in light because…  The elodea respires due to photosynthesis in the sunlight but the CO2 and water changes the product into glucose and O2 because there is a presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.  Oxygen anglucose aren’t acidic solutions thus the water remains a neutral PH, having no effect on the BTB color.
   
   
   4. Water plus bromothymol blue plus a snail plus Elodea is blue-green in light and yellow when left in the dark for three hours because … When there is both light and chlorophyll present, the process is similar to the process for the BTB in water with the Elodea.  However, when placed in the dark, there is no access to light therefore the process cannot be completed, the CO2 and water cannot change into oxygen and sugar. The CO2 is then respired and left in the water to react and go through a color change with the BTB.

Purpose: How does diffusion work?

Procedure: First we filled an 8-oz cup two thirds with distilled water. Then we added about 4 mL of LKL to the distilled water and mixed it thoroughly. We then tested the solution with indicator strip and found it to be 15% glucose and 1% starch. Next we cut a 30 cm piece of 2.5 cm dialysis tubing that was soaked in water, then opened one side of it. We filled that tubing with 15 ml of the glucose and starch mix and tied off both ends of the tubing.
Finally we put the tubing into the test cup and let it sit over night. We made sure to test both the cup and the tube.

Claim: The glucose in the bag will leave the water inside the bag. The water outside of the bag will enter the bag and the starch inside the bag will stay inside the bag.

Evidence:

Research: Diffusion occurs when there is a large amount of particles in one area. Those particles tend to spread out to areas that are not as populated with such particles. We found that in our experiment because we started of with a large concentration of glucose in the tubing and over night it left the bag and spread out into the water outside of the bag and inside the cup. The same instance occurred with the water but instead it entered the tubing instead.  This process is possible because on the surface of the dialysis bag there is microscopic holes that we cannot see with our eyes which allowed the water and glucose to pass through them. However, the starch particles were too big and could not fit through the holes which is why they stood inside of the bag.

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to discover and understand how osmosis works.

Procedure: I worked in a group of five which consisted of: Pablo, William, Marcos, Dax, and myself.

For the first dialysis bag that we used we weighed out 5 grams of salt and added it into the bag. The bag was then filled with 15 mL of water and both ends were tied off. We did a similar process with the other dialysis bag but instead of using salt we added 5 grams of sugar. Both dialysis bags were placed beakers with nothing but pure water. For the next set of dialysis bags we filled two beakers, one with 5 grams of salt and the other with 5 grams of sugar, and placed a bag with 15 mL of pure water in it inside each beaker. We weighed each dialysis bag before we left class. The next day we weighed them again for our results.

Claim: The water with no contents was connected to the salt water and the sugar water.

Evidence:

Research: Osmosis occurs when molecules of a solvent pass through semipermeable membranes.  When this happens it means that something lets some things pass through but not others. For example, it relates to a bouncer at a party, he will let some people in but not others. This occurred in our experiment because we had hypertonic water. Hypertonic water is water with higher concentration of solutes then the water in the surrounding area. This is why the water with out salt or sugar was attracted to the water that did because water likes to dissolve things.