BiologyQ&A by dot point

Communication and signalling: extracellular signalling molecules and receptors, hydrophobic and hydrophilic signals, intracellular and transmembrane receptors, G-protein-coupled receptors and second messengers, phosphorylation cascades and signal amplification.

Laboratory techniques for biologists: dilutions and standard curves, separation by centrifugation, chromatography and electrophoresis, antibody techniques (immunoassay, ELISA, blotting), aseptic technique, cell culture and cell counting.

Membrane proteins: the phospholipid bilayer and fluid mosaic model, integral and peripheral proteins, transport by channels, carriers and pumps, the sodium-potassium pump, and the generation of the resting membrane potential.

Protein control of cell division: the cytoskeleton and microtubules, the cell cycle, cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases, cell cycle checkpoints, apoptosis, and the loss of control that leads to cancer.

Protein structure and binding: amino acids and peptide bonds, the four levels of structure, R group interactions, prosthetic groups, ligand binding and conformational change, allosteric regulation, cooperativity, and modification by phosphorylation.

Communication and scientific literacy: presenting data, descriptive and inferential statistics, evaluating reliability and validity, the critical evaluation of research, scientific ethics and integrity, and the structure of a scientific report.

Experimentation: observational versus experimental studies, controls, placebos and blinding, randomisation, replication and sampling, in vivo, in vitro and in situ studies, and the treatment of error and uncertainty.

Scientific principles and process: hypotheses and predictions, the scientific method and pilot studies, independent, dependent and confounding variables, ethics in research, primary and secondary sources, and peer review.

Evolution: sources of genetic variation, sexual versus asexual reproduction and the costs of sex, natural and sexual selection, genetic drift, the bottleneck and founder effects, the Hardy-Weinberg principle, co-evolution and hybridisation.

Field techniques for biologists: managing hazards in fieldwork, representative sampling with quadrats, transects and point counts, mark-recapture, taxonomy and phylogenetics, model organisms, and indicator species for monitoring.

Parasitism: the spectrum of symbiosis, parasite life cycles and transmission, definitive, intermediate and vector hosts, immune evasion, behavioural manipulation, social parasitism, epidemiology and the control of parasites.

Sex and behaviour: r and K reproductive strategies, parental investment, mating systems, intra- and inter-sexual selection, mate choice and courtship, sexual dimorphism, and alternative reproductive behaviours.