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VCE Biology

VCE · VCAABiology41 notes in 6 folders, 225 KB

Notes for VCE Biology Units 3 and 4 (VCAA study design 2022-2026), in folders for the study design's areas of study: nucleic acids and proteins, DNA manipulation, biochemical pathways, responding to pathogens, evolution and relatedness, and scientific inquiry. Each note covers one or two items of key knowledge, with the skills for the student-designed investigation and bioethics in the last folder.

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What is inside

  • Nucleic acids and proteins
    • DNA and RNA as information molecules7 KB
    • The genetic code and transcription5 KB
    • Translation5 KB
    • Gene structure and the regulation of genes4 KB
    • Protein structure and the proteome6 KB
    • The protein secretory pathway4 KB
  • DNA manipulation and biotechnology
    • Enzymes used to manipulate DNA5 KB
    • CRISPR-Cas95 KB
    • PCR, gel electrophoresis and DNA profiling6 KB
    • Recombinant plasmids and the production of human insulin5 KB
    • Genetically modified and transgenic organisms in agriculture5 KB
  • Biochemical pathways
    • Enzymes and coenzymes in biochemical pathways5 KB
    • Factors affecting enzyme function6 KB
    • Photosynthesis: the light dependent and light independent stages5 KB
    • Rubisco and the adaptations of C3, C4 and CAM plants5 KB
    • Factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis5 KB
    • Cellular respiration: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain6 KB
    • Anaerobic fermentation4 KB
    • Factors affecting the rate of cellular respiration5 KB
    • Biotechnology applied to biochemical pathways6 KB
  • Responding to pathogens
    • Barriers to infection in animals and plants5 KB
    • The innate immune response5 KB
    • Antigens and starting an immune response5 KB
    • The lymphatic system and lymphocytes5 KB
    • The adaptive immune response7 KB
    • Natural and artificial immunity, active and passive4 KB
    • Emerging and re-emerging pathogens, and controlling the spread of disease7 KB
    • Vaccination programs and herd immunity5 KB
    • Immunotherapy and monoclonal antibodies5 KB
  • Evolution and relatedness
    • Causes of changing allele frequencies in a population7 KB
    • Selective breeding, bacterial resistance and viral antigenic change6 KB
    • The fossil record and dating fossils6 KB
    • Speciation5 KB
    • Evidence of relatedness between species and phylogenetic trees7 KB
    • Mammals, primates, hominoids and hominins5 KB
    • Trends in hominin evolution: *Australopithecus* to *Homo*5 KB
    • Interpreting the human fossil record, and the migration of modern humans8 KB
  • Scientific inquiry
    • Scientific investigation methodologies and design7 KB
    • Accuracy, precision, reproducibility and error6 KB
    • Scientific evidence, data analysis and communication8 KB
    • Bioethics: approaches and concepts7 KB

The first note

Nucleic acids and proteins / DNA and RNA as information molecules

## Nucleic acids Nucleic acids are polymers made of monomers called **nucleotides**. They carry the instructions that cells use to build proteins, so a sequence of nucleotides in DNA is, in effect, a stored set of directions for making a particular polypeptide. The two kinds are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). Every nucleotide has three parts: a five-carbon (pentose) sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The sugar is joined to the base at its 1' carbon and to the phosphate at its 5' carbon. The carbons of the sugar are numbered 1' to 5' (said "one prime") to tell them apart from the carbons in the base. ## The structure of DNA ### Nucleotides in DNA The sugar in DNA is **deoxyribose**, which has a hydrogen atom rather than a hydroxyl group on its 2' carbon. There are four bases, in two groups: | Group | Bases | Structure | |---|---|---| | Purines | adenine (A), guanine (G) | double ring | | Pyrimidines | cytosine (C), thymine (T) | single ring | ### The polynucleotide strand Nucleotides join by a condensation reaction between the phosphate on one nucleotide and the 3' hydroxyl of the sugar on the next. The bond is a **phosphodiester bond**, and a repeating chain of sugar and phosphate, the sugar-phosphate backbone, runs along the length of the strand with the bases pointing away from it. The strand therefore has direction: one end has a free phosphate on a 5' carbon (the 5' end) and the other has a free hydroxyl on a 3' carbon (the 3'…

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