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MCAT Prep Biology

Subjects : mcat, science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation of fructose -6- phosphate to form fructose -1-6- bisphosphate in the third step of glycolysis. This is the main regulatory step of glycolysis. PFK is feedback - inhibited by ATP.






2. A subphase of male orgasm - a reflex reaction triggered by the presence of semen in the urethra. Ejaculation is a series of rhythmic contractions of muscles near teh base of teh penis that increase pressure in the urethra - forcing the semen out.






3. One of two large chambers in the heart. The ventricles receive blood from the atria and pump it out of the lungs of the heart. The right ventricle has thing walls and pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs through the pulmonary artery. The left ventri






4. The valves in the heart that separte the atria from teh ventricles. The tricuspid valve separates teh right atrium from the right ventricel - and the bicuspid (mitral) valves separates the left atrium from the left ventricle. These valves close at th






5. The inner layer of smooth muscle in the wall of the digestive tract. When the circular muscle contracts - the tube diameter is reduced. Certain areas of the circular muscle are thickened to act as valves (sphincters).






6. The inner epithelial lining of the uterus that thickens and develops during the menstrual cycle - into which a fertilized ovum can implant - and which sloughs off during menstration if a pregnancy does not occur.






7. Also known as the adenohypophysis - the anterior pituitary is made of gland tissue and makes and secretes six different homrones: FSH - LH - ACTH - prolactin - TSH - and growth hormone. The anterior pituitary is controlled b yreleasing and inhibiting






8. One of the three primary (embryonic) germ layers formed during gastrulation. Ectoderm ultimately forms external structures such as the skin - hair - nails - and inner linings of the mouth and anus - as well as the entire nervous system.






9. The tubes that carry urine from the kindeys to the bladder.






10. A neuron found completely within the central nervous system. Interneous typically connect sensory and motor neurons - especially in reflex arcs.






11. A form of evolution in which the same organism is placed into different environments with different selection pressures. This causes organisms to evolve differently - to diverge from their common ancestor. The resulting (new) species may share struct






12. A region of specialized cardiac muscle cells in the right atrium of the heart that initiate the impules of heart contraction; for this reason the SA node is knownas the 'pacemaker' of the heart.






13. Plasma with the clotting factors removed. Serum is often used in diagnostic tests because it does not clot.






14. An organism that relies on a chemical source of energy (such as ATP) instead of light (which phototrophs).






15. A situation in which a heterozygot displays a blended version of the pheotypes associated with each allele - e.g. pure - breeding white - flowered plants crossed with pure - breeding red - flowered plants produces heterozygous offspring plants with p






16. A point mutation in which a pyrimidine is susbstituted for a pyrimidine - or a purine is substituted for a purine.






17. A statistical rule stating that the probability of either of two indpendent (and mutually exclusive) events ocuring is the sum of their individual probabilities minus the probability of them both occuring together.






18. Aso called a subcutaneous layer - this is a layer of *fat located under the dermis of the skin. The hypodermis helps to insulate the body and protects underlying muscles and other structures.






19. Pain receptors. Nociceptors are found everywhere in the body except for the brain.






20. The deliberate exposure of a person to an antigen in order to provoke the primary immune response and memory cell production. Typically the antigens are those normally associated with pathogens - thus if the live pathogen is encountered in the future






21. A large system of folded membranes within a eukaryotic cell that has ribosomes bound to it - giving a rough appearnce. These ribosomes synthesize proteins that will ultimately be secreted from the cell - incorporated into the plasma membrane - or tra






22. Aromatic bases found in DNA and RNA that are derived from purine. They have a double rightn structure and include adenine and guanine.






23. A protein - digesting enzyme secreted by the chief cells of the gastric glands. Pepsin is secreted in its inactive form (pepsinogen) and is activated by gastric acid. It is unusual in that its pH optimum is around 1-2; most of these enzymes in the bo






24. The inner region of an organ - e.g. - the renal medulla - the ovarian medulla - and the adrenal medulla - etc.






25. An enzyme that unwinds the double helix of DNA and separates the DNA strands in preparation for DNA replication.






26. Also called falopian tubes - these tubes extend laterally from their side of the uterus and serve as a passageway for the ocyte to travel from the ovary to the uterus. This is also the normal site of fertilization. Severing of the uterine tubes (tuba






27. A blood vessel that carries blood toward the heart chambers. Veins do not have muscular walls - have valves to ensure that blood flows in one direction only - and are typically low - pressure vessels.






28. A peptide hormone produced and secreted by the Beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin targets cells in the body - especially the liver and muscle - and allows them to take glucose out of gthe blood (thus lowering blood glucose levels).






29. The RF value - the percentage of recombinant offspring resulting from a given genetic cross. The recombination frequency is proportional to the physical distance between genes on a chromosome. If a recombination frequency is low - the genes under con






30. Anterior pituitary topic hormones FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing homeon) that stimulates the gonads (testes and ovaries) to produce gametes and to secrete sex steroids.






31. Bacteria that have a thick peptido glycan cell wall - and no outer membrane. They stain very darkly (purple) in Gram stain.






32. A protein that is associated with the plasma membrane of a cell - but that is not embedded in the lipid bilayer. Peripheral proteins typically associate with embedded proteins through hydrogen bonding or electrostatic interactions.






33. The sum of all genetic material in a population.






34. The mechanism that ensures tehat skeletal muscle contraction does not occur without neural stimulation (excitation). A trest - cytosolic [Calcium] is low - and the troponin - tropomyosin complex covers the myosin - binding sites on actin. When the mu






35. The middle (approximtely 40%) of the small intestine.






36. The flow of blood through a tissue; ischeia is when there is no blood flow - anoxia when there is no O2 available (ischemia is more dangerous b/c of waste build - up)






37. The blood vessels taht carry blood to and from cardiac muscle. The coronary arteries branch off teh aorta and carry oxygenated blood to the cardiac tissue. The coronary veins collect deoxygenated blood from teh cardiac tissue - merge to form teh coro






38. The region of teh brain that coordinates and smooth skeletal muscle activity.






39. In the autonomic divison of the PNS - a neuron that has its cell body located in the CNS - and whose axon extends into the PNS to synapse with a second neuron at an autonoic ganglion. (The second neuron's axon synapses with the target axon)






40. A large multinucleate cell - typically formed by the fusion of many smaller cells during development (e.g. a skeletal muscle cell) - or formed by nuclear division in the absence of cellular division.






41. A set of veins that connect a capillary bed in the hypothalamus (the primary capillary plexus) with a capillary bed in the anterior pituitary gland (the secondary capillary bed). Releasing and inhibiting factors from the hypothalamus travel along the






42. A drop in blood pH due to hypoventilation (too little breathing) and a resulting accumulation of Co2.






43. Cranial nerve pair X. The vagus nerves are very large mixed nerves (They carry both sensory input and motor input) that innervate virtually every visceral organ. They are especially important in transmitting parasympathetic input to the heart and dig






44. The second step in viral infection - the injection of the viral genome into the host cell.






45. The portion of the cell membrane at the neuromusclar junction; essentially the postsynaptic membrane at the synapse.






46. The central structure of the diencephalon of the brain. the thalamus acts as a relay station and major integrating area for sensory impulses.






47. A prokaryotic enzyme used to twist teh single circular chromosome of prokaryotes upon itself to form supercois. Supercoiling helps to compact prokaryotic DNa and make it sturdier.






48. A mutation caused by an insertion or deletion of base pairs in a gene sequence in DNA such that the reading frame of the gene (and thus teh amino acid sequence of the protein) is altered.






49. (Singular:villus). Folds of the intestinal mucosa that project into the lumen of the intestine; vili serve to increase the surface area of the intestine for absorption.






50. A tissue in which the cytoplasms of the cells are connected by gap junctions - allowing the cells to function as a unit. Cardiac and smooth muscle tissues are examples of functional synctiums.