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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. A microscopic space between the axon of one neuron and the cell body or dendrites of a secon neruon - or between the axon of a neuron and an organ.






2. A protein complex foudn in the inner membrane of the mitochondira. It is essentially a channel that llows H+ ions to flow from teh intermembrane space to the matrix (down teh gradeint produced by the enyzmes complexes of the electron transport chain)






3. A large - ring shaped lipid found in cell membranes. Cholesterol is the precursor for steroid hormones - and is used to manufacture bile salts.






4. A subsequent immune response to previously encountered antigen that results in antibody production and T cell activation. The secondary immune response is mediated by memory cells (produced during the primary immune respone) and is much faster and st






5. Arise in blood pH due to hyperventilation (excessive breathing) and a resulting decrease in CO2.






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






7. A hormone produced by the C- cells of the thyroid gland that decreases serum calcium levels. It targets teh bones (stimulates osteoblasts) - the kidneys (reduces calcium reabsorption) - and the small intestine (decreases calcium absorption).






8. 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).






9. A hormone released by teh G cells of the stomach in the presence of food. Gastrin promotes muscular activity of the stomach as well as secretion of hydrochloric acid - pepsinogen - and mucus.






10. (1) The secretion of useful substances from a cell - either into the blood (endocrine secretin) or into a cavity or onto the body surface (exocrine secretion). (2) in the nephron - the movement of substances from the blood to the filtrate along the t






11. A hormone derived from cholesterol. Steroids are generally hydrophobic and can easily cross the plasma membrane of cells - thus receptors for steroids are found intracellularly. Once this steroid binds to its receptor - the receptor - steroid complex






12. The maximal volume of air that the lungs can contain. Total lung capacity is the sum of the vital capacity and the residual volume - and is typically about 6000 mL (6L).






13. A bacterium having a rod - like shaped (plural = bacilli).






14. A sensory receptor that responds to specific chemicals. Some examples are gustatory (taste) receptors - olfactory (smell) receptors - and central chemoreceptors (responds to pH changes in teh cerebrospinal fluid).






15. The first part of the large intestine.






16. An X- linked recessive disorder in Which blood fails to clot properly - leading to excessive bleeding if injured.






17. A thin (4 mm) layer of gray matter on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres. The cerebral cortex is the conscious mind - and is functionally divided into four pairs of lobes: the frontal lobes - the parietal lobes - the temporal lobes - and the occ






18. The specific location on a DNa strand where replication begins.. Prokaryotes typically have a single origin of replication - while eukaryotes have several per chromosome.






19. A digestive accessory organ near the liver. The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile produced by the liver - and is stimulated to contrat by cholecystokin (CCK).






20. The burrowing of a blastocyst (a developing embryo) into the endometrium of the uterus - typically occuring about a week after fertilizaiton.






21. The failure of two separate genes to boey the Law of Independent Assortment - as might occur if the genes were found close together on the same chromosome.






22. The movement of air out of the respiratory tract. Expiration can be passive (caused by relaxation of the diaphragm and elastic recoil of the lungs) or active (caused by contraction of the abdominal muscles - which increases intraabdominal pressure an






23. A protein hormone secreted by sustenacular cells of the testes that acts to inhibit the release of FSH and LH from the anterior pituitary.






24. The depolarzation of the motor end plate on a muscle cell.






25. Small cavities in the bone or cartilage that hold individual bones or cartilage cells.






26. An organism that requires the aid of a host organism to survive - and that harms the host in the process.






27. 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






28. A blood pressure cuff






29. A structure near the middle of eukaryotic chromosomes to which the fibers of the mitotic spindle attach during cell division.






30. A ductless gland that secretes a hormone into the blood






31. 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






32. An embryonic structure particularly important in egg - laying animals because it contains the yolk - the only source of nutrients for the embryo developing inside the egg. In humans - the yolk sac is very small (since mammals get their nutrients via






33. A viral life cycle in which the host is turned into a 'virus factory' and ultimately lysed to release the new viral particles.






34. All the genetic information in an organism; all of an organism's chromosomes.






35. Something that works together with another thing to augment the the second thing's activity. For example - a uscle that assists another muslce is said to be a syngergist. An enzyme that helps another enzyme is a synergist.






36. A lipid bilayer that surrounds the capsid of an animal virus. the envelope is acquired as teh virus buds out through the plasma membrane of its host cell. Not all annimal viruses possess and envelope.






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






38. A gland that secretes its product into a duct - which ultimately carries the product to the surface of the body or into a body cavity. Some examples of exocrine gland and their products are sweat glands (sweat) - gastric glands (acid - mucus - protea






39. The reduced from (carries electrons) of FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide). this is the other main electron carrier in cellular respiration (NADH is the most common).






40. A four - subunit protein found in red blood cells that binds oxygen. Each subunit contains a heme group - a large multi - ring molecule with an iron atom at its center. One hemoglobin molecule can bind four oxygen molecules in a cooperative manner.






41. 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






42. Small organelles that contain the hydrogen peroxide produced as a byproduct of lipid metabolism. Peroxisomes convert hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen by way of the enzyme catalase.






43. The perio of time during which the ventricles of the heart are relaxed.






44. The elimination of wastes from the body.






45. The period of human development from implantation through 8 weeks of gestation. Gastrulation - neurulation - and organogenesis occur during this time period. The developing baby is known as embryo during this time period.






46. The connection of a mosin head group to an actin filament during muscle contraction (the sliding filament theory).






47. The division of the autonomic nervous system known as the 'resting and digesting' system. It causes a general decrease in body activities such as heart rate - respiratory rate - and blood pressure - and an increase in blood flow to the GI tract and d






48. The structure in the cochlea of the inner ear made up of the basilar membrane - the auditory hair cells - and the tectorial membrane. The Organ of Corti is the site where auditory sensation is detected and transduced to action potentials.






49. A waste product of protein dbreakdown - produced by the liver and relased into the bloodstream to be eliminated by the kidney.






50. Small fragments of DNa produced on the lagging strand during DNa replication - joined later by DNA ligase to form a complete strand.