Chapter 21 Question

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21.1 Biotechnology & Genetic Modification

Question Paper
Course CIE IGCSE Biology

Section 21. Biotechnology & Genetic Modification
Topic 21.1 Biotechnology & Genetic Modification
Difficulty Hard
Time allowed: 60
Score: /43
Percentage: /100
Page 1 of 10
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Question 1a
Extended Only
Penicillin is an antibiotic produced by the fungus Penicillium chrysogenum.
Fig. 1 shows the process used to produce penicillin.
Fig. 1
Explain why there is a water jacket around the fermenter and why acids or alkalis are added to the fermenter.
[6 marks]
Page 2 of 10
Question 1b
Extended Only
Fig. 2 shows the mass of fungus and the yield of penicillin during the fermentation process.
Fig. 2
(i)
State the time interval over which the fungus grew at its maximum rate.
Give your answer in hours.
[1]
(ii)
As the fungus grows in the fermenter, the nuclei in the fungal hyphae divide.
State the type of nuclear division that occurs during the growth of the fungus in the fermenter.
[1]
(iii)
Explain why the growth of the fungus slows down and stops.
[3]
[5 marks]
Page 3 of 10
Question 1c
Extended Only
Penicillin is not needed for the growth of P. chrysogenum.
(i)
State the evidence from Fig. 2 that shows that penicillin is not needed for this growth.
[2]
(ii)
The people in charge of the penicillin production emptied the fermenter after 160 hours.
Use the information in Fig. 2 to suggest why they did not allow the fermentation to continue for longer.
[1]
[3 marks]
Page 4 of 10
Question 1d
Extended Only
Downstream processing refers to all the processes that occur to the contents of the fermenter after it is emptied. This
involves making penicillin into a form that can be used as a medicine.
Suggest why downstream processing is necessary.
[3 marks]
Question 1e
Explain why antibiotics, such as penicillin, affect bacteria but not viruses.
[2 marks]
Question 2a
Tissue plasminogen activators (TPAs) are human proteins that are used as drugs to break down blood clots.
TPAs break down blood clots by activating plasminogen. Plasminogen is a protein that is always present in the blood.
When activated, plasminogen forms a protease that breaks down fibrin molecules.
(i)
Plasminogen is found in the plasma.
State what is meant by the term plasma.
[1]
(ii)
State the products of the action of protease on the protein fibrin.
[1]
[2 marks]
Page 5 of 10
Page 6 of 10
Question 2b
Extended Only
TPAs can be produced by genetically-engineered bacteria.
Fig. 1 shows some of the stages involved in genetically engineering a bacterium to make a TPA.
Fig. 1
(i)
State the name of structure A in Fig. 1.
[1]
(ii)
In the flow chart, X represents the action of an enzyme on a molecule of DNA.
State the name of this enzyme.
[1]
(iii)
The TPA gene is inserted into structure A.
Explain how the gene is inserted into structure A to form structure B as shown in Fig. 1.
[3]
(iv)
Before TPA was made by genetically-engineered bacteria it was only available from blood donated by people.
Suggest one advantage of producing TPA by genetically-engineered bacteria.
Page 7 of 10
[1]
(v)
The genetically-engineered bacteria produce mRNA that is a copy of the human TPA gene.
Explain the role of mRNA in the bacterium.
[2]
[8 marks]
Question 3a
Extended only
Bacteria are often used in biotechnology as there are several advantages to their use in this field.
Outline the benefits of using bacteria in biotechnology.
[4 marks]
Page 8 of 10
Question 3b
Another example of a microorganism that is useful in biotechnology is the fungus Aspergillus niger. They typically grow on
fruit and produce pectinase that breaks down plant cell walls. This enables A. niger to feed on the contents of the plant cells.
Pectinase is also used in the food and beverage industry.
Explain the use of pectinase in the food and beverage industry.
[2 marks]
Question 3c
Extended only
Many fruits, such as lemons and limes, contain a substance called citric acid which has a wide variety of applications in the
food-, cosmetics- and pharmaceutical industries.
Certain strains of A. niger can be used to produce citric acid on an industrial scale by the aerobic breakdown of glucose at pH
levels of between 4 and 6.5. The fungus is cultured in large industrial fermenters where conditions are kept at an optimum.
Describe and explain the conditions that should be controlled in the fermenter to ensure optimum production of citric acid.
[6 marks]
Page 9 of 10
Question 3d
Extended only
In the 1970s, the major US agrochemical business Monsanto developed a family of chemical herbicides that it sold under the
trade name Roundup™.
Roundup™is active against a very wide variety of plants.
Monsanto also developed a range of genetically-modified crop seeds that were resistant to Roundup™ by inserting a gene
from a species of soil bacterium.
Suggest two possible ecological risks of planting these genetically-modified seeds.
[2 marks]
Page 10 of 10

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21.1 Biotechnology & Genetic Modification

Course CIE IGCSE Biology

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