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AQA A-Level Biology Essays

Parts highlighted in yellow are beyond-the-spec information. Cystic fibrosis was a topic in
the old specification so I used that, and then I learnt about the cholera example from this
Miss Estruch video: Biology Essay -AQA A level. How to get full marks & what to learn …

Guidance about the synoptic essay: Synoptic essay - 7 steps to A* (biology carol),
How to get TOP MARKS in a biology essay: AQA A-level 25 mark essay on paper 3 (Miss
Estruch)

I didn’t have to type out all my essays because I have 4 exams next week, but here is a
selection. Remember that essay topics can be repeated for different essays (I’ve given
some ideas/suggestions at the bottom)

If this was helpful, consider following me on Instagram @icedlbbh - but the main aim is
that these A*-level essays I wrote can help :) Any errors, then DM me on TSR.

The importance of water and water regulation (23/25) 🌊

Water is necessary in the process of photosynthesis. The light dependent reaction begins
with photoionisation where light hits a chlorophyll molecule which causes electrons to
get excited and leave the chlorophyll molecule. Electrons go down the electron transfer
chain, each time in decreasing amounts of energy. Energy lost is used to phosphorylate
ADP. the photolysis of water is needed to replace these electrons. Light energy splits the
water molecule into protons, electrons and oxygen and the electrons are used to lose
energy and transport protons into the thylakoid space which creates a proton
electrochemical gradient. Protons diffuse through ATP synthase and produce ATP which is
needed for the Calvin Cycle. ATP is necessary for metabolic reactions and is hydrolysed
which provides energy to convert GP into TP which are converted into useful products like
glucose needed for photosynthesis. Without the use of ATP produced as a result of the
products of the photolysis reaction, no GP would be produced. Without GP, the plant would
not be able to produce glucose or other carbohydrate-containing molecules like starch
(for energy storage) or cellulose (for providing strength to cell walls)---meaning that the
plant would be unable to sustain itself.

Water is also very important for hydrolysis reactions – these hydrolysis reactions use a
water molecule to break the chemical bonds in polymers into monomers. An example of
where the hydrolysis reaction is used is in the process of lipid digestion where bile salts
in the liver to small micelles give them a large surface area for the enzyme lipase to act
on. The enzyme lipase works by hydrolysing an ester bond which produces
monoglycerides and fatty acids. Without water, the hydrolysis reaction does not occur and
therefore monoglycerides and fatty acids would not be produced which are able to diffuse
through the phospholipid bilayer into cells where they are then made into triglycerides
again in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. .
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The diffusion of water is also important in the mucus lining in airways. Chloride ions are
transported into the mucus from the epithelial cells in the bronchi by active transport.
This reduces the water potential of the mucus causing water to enter the mucus; this
therefore reduces the thickness of the mucus allowing the cilia hairs to waft the mucus in
our throats. This is important as the mucus traps pathogens in the air we breathe in; the
importance of this process is shown by individuals who lack the functioning CFTR protein
that transports the chloride ions. They therefore suffer from cystic fibrosis when water
moves from the mucus into the epithelial cells which increases the thickness of the
mucus making it too thick to be effectively moved by the cilia hairs—which allows
pathogens to remain in the bronchi causing lung infection.

Water regulation content is important in the formation and reabsorption of tissue fluid.
Capillaries have small fenestrations in the walls so that liquid and small molecules can
be forced out. In ultrafiltration, blood enters the capillaries from the arterioles, the smaller
diameter results in a high hydrostatic pressure so water is removed by osmosis, oxygen
and carbon dioxide is removed by diffusion, and glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, ions
are also forced out. Large soluble plasma proteins remain in the capillaries and therefore
create a lowered water potential. Towards the venule end of the capillaries, the hydrostatic
pressure is lowered due to the loss of the liquid, but the water potential is very low. Water
re-enters the capillaries by osmosis. Without water, this process would not occur, and
many substances would not be able to be exchanged in the tissues — including carbon
dioxide not being removed from the tissues. Oxygen is essential for respiration since it is
the terminal electron acceptor, and therefore without the formation of tissue fluid, it
would not be able to reach tissues where it is needed.

The importance of concentration gradients (25/25) 🪴

Facilitated diffusion is important for the co-transport of amino acids and glucose. As the
concentration of sodium ions in the lumen is greater than in epithelial cells, sodium ions
diffuse into the epithelial cell through a cotransporter protein and move down the
concentration gradient by facilitated diffusion. Sodium ions carry glucose (or amino
acids) with them into epithelial cells. Glucose (or amino acids) move against the
concentration gradient by co-transport. Glucose/amino acids diffuse out of epithelial
cells into the blood by facilitated diffusion. Without facilitated diffusion, glucose is too
large to pass through the phospholipid bilayer. This diffusion concentration gradient is
important since without glucose, ATP is not produced meaning ATP hydrolysis on the
myosin head does not occur during muscle contraction and respiratory substrates are not
phosphorylated.

Concentration gradients are also important in the counter current flow mechanism in fish
where blood flows through the lamellae in the opposite direction to the water flowing on
top of it which means there is a higher concentration of oxygen in the water than in the
blood, so maintains a concentration gradient of oxygen between water and blood. Oxygen
continues to diffuse into the blood along the whole length of the lamellae. However, if
water flowed in the same direction as blood in parallel flow, equilibrium would be reached
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so oxygen wouldn’t diffuse into blood along the whole gill plate. Without the counter
current flow, not enough oxygen would reach the cells for cellular respiration meaning
oxygen cannot act as the terminal electron acceptor in the electron transport chain
preventing the phosphorylation of ADP into ATP. This, in turn, would prevent ATP being
supplied for use in anaerobic respiration. Thus, the concentration gradient is necessary to
maintain a counter current flow to ensure that oxygen reaches cells and that metabolic
reactions can occur in the fish.

In the light dependent reaction, chlorophyll absorbs light energy which excited the
electrons to a higher energy level. Electrons pass down an electron transfer chain from
photosystem II to photosystem I via redox reactions, losing energy. This energy is then
used for active transport of protons from the stroma into the thylakoid lumen. This is
importance since it creates a proton electrochemical gradient across the thylakoid
membrane (higher number in the thylakoid than in the stroma) and so protons move by
facilitated diffusion down the electrochemical gradient into the stroma via the enzyme
ATP synthase embedded in the thylakoid membrane. The energy from this allows
photophosphorylation of ADP into ATP using an inorganic phosphate. This electrochemical
gradient is important since it is only created because the protons cannot diffuse through
the cristae membrane so must pass through the channel proteins. This ensures the
production of ATP for metabolic processes as the protons must pass back through the ATP
synthase.

A concentration gradient is also important in synaptic transmission. An impulse reaches

the synaptic knob which causes calcium ion channels to open. Calcium ions then diffuse
into the synaptic knob and bind with vesicles which fuses with the pre-synaptic
membrane and releases a neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft. The acetylcholine
diffuses down a concentration gradient from the pre-synaptic neurone and binds with
specific protein receptors on the post synaptic membrane. Protein channels specific to
sodium ions open in the post synaptic membrane causing sodium ions to diffuse into the
neurone causing the depolarisation of the membrane. If the threshold value is exceeded,
an action potential is initiated. This process is important since the impulse only travels in
one direction due as a result of the unilateral/unidrectionality feature due to the
concentration gradient and due to the fact that vesicles are only present on the
pre-synaptic neurone and receptors are only present on the post-synaptic neurone. This
ensures that synapses only pass impulses in one direction.

Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae which infects the small intestine and
affects osmosis. The bacteria releases a toxin which binds to the chloride protein
channels on the cell surface membranes of the epithelial cells in the small intestines.
When the toxin binds, it causes the protein channels to remain open and therefore
chloride ions move from the epithelial cells into the lumen down a concentration
gradient, which lowers the water potential of the lumen. As a result, water moves by
osmosis from the blood down a water potential gradient into the epithelial cells and into
the lumen. This causes symptoms like diarrhoea and dehydration.

The importance of microorganisms (19/25) 🦠

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I used Miss Estruch’s essay plan on YouTube for this, but this was my lowest-marked essay mostly
because some of my paragraphs didn’t go completely into the importance and it was slightly brief.
This is a harder essay because there’s not much on micro-organisms in the specification and so is
unlikely to appear but I wanted to give an example of what one of my lower marked essays looked
like :)

In the nitrogen cycle, microorganisms are required. Saprobionts are needed to convert
nitrogen-containing compounds into ammonia which forms ammonium ions in soil.
Saprobionts secrete enzymes for extracellular digestion. In nitrification, NH2+ ions in soil
are converted into nitrites and then into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria. The nitrifying
bacteria needs oxygen to carry out these conversions. In nitrogen fixation, nitrogen gas is
converted to nitrogen containing compounds like ammonia by nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
The use of these bacteria is important because nitrogen gas is unreactive and not easily
converted into other compounds and plants can only take up nitrogen in the form of
nitrates by active transport in roots. This is used by plants to make nucleic acids for
growth, and nitrogen is important in biological molecules to make ATP for metabolic
reactions.

Microorganisms are also important in the polymerase chain reaction. DNA strands are
separated by breaking hydrogen bonds between bases at 95C. This allows primers to bind
to DNA fragment’s template strands by forming hydrogen bonds between complementary
bases. 72C is the optimum temperature for Taq DNA polymerase which comes from
thermophilic bacteria. This DNA polymerase joins together the adjacent nucleotides
forming phosphodiester bonds. DNA polymerase has a high optimum temperature so DNA
replication can occur at a high temperature, and the enzyme is not denatured. The large
quantities of DNA produced can be used to create GM crops resistant to herbicides or in
forensic science.

Bacteria are also important in the production of insulin. In recombinant DNA technology,
host cells are transformed using vectors. The vector (plasmid) comes from the bacteria
and bacteria are the host to grow insulin. The plasmid is cut open using the same
restriction endonuclease which creates the sticky ends. Therefore, the DNA fragment
sticky ends are complementary to the sticky ends on the plasmid. The DNA fragment and
cut plasmid are combined and the enzyme ligase anneals them. Ligase catalyses the
condensation reaction to form the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotides. The
vector (plasmid with the recombinant DNA) is inserted into the host cell where the gene
will be expressed to create the protein required. To do this, the cell membrane of the host
cell must be made more permeable, so to increase the permeability, the host cells are
mixed with calcium ions and heat shocked. This is essential since it allows for genetically
modified products to be created. It is less likely to cause rejection reactions than insulin
taken from a pig’s pancreas and it is more ethically acceptable. You can also create large
quantities very rapidly.

Pathogens are important in the humoral response. Specific beta cells bind to antigen
presenting cells and are stimulated by T helper cells to release cytokines. This divides
rapidly by mitosis during clonal expansion to form some plasma cells for the primary
immune response which secrete large amounts of antibodies in the blood. Some become
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memory cells for the secondary immune response. Knowledge of the primary and
secondary response has been used to create vaccines which use an attenuated form of
the pathogen so if you are re-infected, large concentrations of antibodies are produced at
a faster rate and leads to the agglutination of the pathogen and so gives immunity.
Therefore, microorganisms have been important for our understanding and development
of vaccines.

Guidance for other essays that could appear 🙂

The importance of hydrogen bonds

- DNA during semiconservative replication

- Link to mitosis - creating new cells or link to topic 8 (PCR) or how it’s important for
genetic information, or meiosis - formation of gametes

- Cellulose’s hydrogen bonds

- Link to its use to provide support in cell walls and providing strength - turgor
pressure, etc

- Cohesion-tension theory
- Link to temperature regulation in plants and how transpiration is important for
that

The importance of proteins

Examples from previous exemplar essays

- Proteins involved in chemiosmosis
- Antibodies as proteins – link to vaccines and monoclonal antibodies
- Tissue fluid
- EXTRA! CFTR proteins (cystic fibrosis)

Examples not in exemplar essays

- Haemoglobin - link to how oxygen is terminal electron acceptor, ATP needed for
metabolic reactions
- Muscles – contraction/sliding filament theory (actin, myosin are proteins) - why is
contraction necessary?