Mutation Stations
Maddy Chandler
Ms. Cooper
Biology
Diabetes Type 2:
1. The organic molecules involved in type 2 diabetes include insulin and glucose.
2. The type of mutation that causes diabetes is oftentimes genetic mutation and that occurs
in the genes associated with insulin secretion and glucose, but can also be caused by
environmental factors. Diabetes is in some cases, a monogenic disorder that is often
caused by a single point mutation.
3. When a person has diabetes the body is unable to regulate blood sugar due to an
imbalance of insulin or a pancreas that does not work correctly. Over time, the high
glucose levels (blood-sugar) can damage the body's internal organs.
4. Insulin is a hormone that causes cells to uptake glucose, causing your blood sugar levels
to lower and your body to be able to perform cellular respiration at the mitochondria.
5. Blood glucose is the sugar found in your blood that comes from the food you eat. All the
cells in the body use glucose for cellular respiration to create the energy needed to
survive.
6. The Pancreas is an organ located behind the stomach that creates insulin.
7. The normal range for blood glucose in humans is around 85 to 120 mg/dl.
8. The normal range of blood glucose for someone with diabetes is around 135 to
200mg/dl.
9. The typical amount of time for the body to process glucose after a meal and return to
homeostasis levels is around 2.2 hours for somebody without diabetes and over 5 hours
for somebody with diabetes.
10. Somebody who has diabetes is frequently tired because there is less glucose in the cells to
produce cellular energy (ATP) due to a lack of insulin
11. Somebody who has diabetes is frequently thirsty because their body is trying to dilute
their blood sugar passively through osmosis on a cellular level.
Heart Disease:
1. The blood vessel with plaque in it prevents the blood cells from being able to pass
through, while the blood vessel without plaque allows the blood cells to pass easily.
2. Organic molecules involved in heart disease include saturated fats, proteins and lipids.
3. The mutation that causes heart disease occurs in the Sarcomere gene. This gene is
responsible for moving muscles.
4. The tube with plaque prevents the blood vessels from moving through, while the clear
blood vessels allow the blood to flow through.
5. If plaque completely blocks the vessel then a blood clot forms and blocks blood flow
through the body. The blood clot can move through the bloodstream, blocking blood flow
to organs and eventually causing serious damage to the body.
6. If the blockage occurs in the heart then blood doesn't get to the body, and organs begin to
die. A stroke is when blood cannot get into parts of the brain and they begin to die. If
blood cannot flow to the heart the heart muscle itself will die.
7. The heart compensates for slower blood flow by pumping / beating faster. This makes the
heart work harder to enable it to have enough power to push through the carotid,
plaque-filled arteries and veins.
8. The diet that a doctor might suggest to somebody with heart disease would be to eat
foods low in fat, meaning less red meat and fried foods, and fill their diet with vitamin,
nutrient, fiber rich foods such as fruit, veggies, nuts, and seeds.
9. Somebody with diabetes is also at risk for damage to large (macrovascular) and small
(microvascular) blood vessels, which can lead to heart attack, stroke, and problems with
the kidneys, eyes, gums, feet and nerves.
10. Excess fat around the heart and the build-up of plaque in the vessels leading to the heart
both increase the risk of heart attacks and death.
Sickle Cell Disease
1. Organic molecules involved in sickle cell disease include proteins (hemoglobin), nucleic
acids (DNA), and blood cells (oxygen, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets).
2. The mutation that causes sickle-cell disease is a single-point gene mutation.
3. Hemoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells
4. Sickle cell disease causes hemoglobin to change shape, changing the shape of the red
blood cell and causing the blood cells to clump and not pass easily through the vessels.
5. The hemoglobin in someone with sickle cell is mutated. Hemoglobin is a protein that
allows oxygen to move around the body. In someone with sickle cell the red blood cells
carrying the mutant hemoglobin are deprived of oxygen and become sickle shaped rather
than round; this can sometimes interrupt the blood flow through the body.
6. You inherit the sickle cell disease from someone carrying only one copy of the gene
(doesn’t have it themself). Two recessive genes give you the disease.
7. The normal cell flows freely through the circulation while the sickle shaped red blood
cell does not pass easily through and instead clumps up because of its “sickled” shape.
8. The mutated hemoglobin does not hold as much oxygen, meaning that your red blood
cells are less efficient at carrying oxygen throughout the body through the vessels.
9. If someone went into a Sickle Cell crisis they would need supplemental oxygen and IV
fluids because they were not getting enough oxygen through the blood due to their
mutated hemoglobin.
Breast Cancer
1. Macromolecules involved in breast cancer include proteoglycans, progesterone, estrogen,
and lipids.
2. The most common cause of hereditary breast cancer is a mutation that occurs in the
BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Normally these genes make proteins that repair damaged DNA,
but once mutated unregulated cell growth and cancer occurs. Additionally, frameshift
deletions, additions, and point mutations have all been found to cause breast cancer.
3. The balloons with breast cancer are the ones with the rocks in them because they are
meant to represent a malignant tumor (clump of unregulated cells) forming in the breast.
4. A tumor is a swelling on the body caused by abnormal tissue growth sparked by
unregulated cellular activity, namely, genetic mutations and proteins. A tumor can be
either benign or malignant, benign being innocuous and malignant being cancerous.
5. Not all tumors are cancerous. Some clumps of cell growth are benign and do not have
negative effects on the body, while others are malignant and can metastasize.
6. Cancer is a disease in which cells go through unregulated growth due to genetic
mutations or environmental factors. This growth spreads to other parts of the body
causing them to not function as they should and harming the body.
7. Methods that have been found to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer include:
limiting alcohol, watching your weight, breast feeding, doing hormonal therapy, and
being physically active. All of these things can potentially reduce the risk of developing
breast cancer but none can eliminate it, especially if it runs in the family.
8. Removing breasts can limit the chance of having breast cancer by 90%!