Web Cell Assignment
Directions: Read the following questions/scenarios & answer them with your group. You may turn in one paper per
group. Please print it. Make sure is sounds like a high school student: complete sentences, detail description, thought
have been put into the answer.
1. Muscle cells are full of mitochondria and microfilaments. Why do you think this is so?
2. A virus is basically a piece of DNA surrounded by a protective protein coat and is not considered a living
organism. Therefore, antibiotics are not effective at treating viral infections. Viruses actually inject their DNA
into our cells and hijack our protein-making machinery in order to make more proteins, and therefore, more
viruses. List 3 organelles that would be involved in the process making viral proteins and therefore more viruses.
3. During development in the womb, the fetus contains webbed fingers and toes. However, this webbing is
destroyed through a process of cell suicide called apoptosis. What cell organelle do you think has the capability
of killing the cell? Why?
4. a. Before completing an organ transplant or blood transfusion, what is the first thing that medical professionals
must do?
b. What cellular component do you think is used in this process? Explain.
5. Let’s say that you want to clone yourself. Technically, you could remove the nucleus from one of your cells and
insert that nucleus into a donor egg cell that doesn’t have a nucleus. This cell would then be inserted into a
surrogate, where the egg cell would divide and create your clone. (See the diagram below from wikipedia.org).
Why would the nucleus of your cell have to be used for this process?
6. Cirrhosis of the liver is a disease where the liver basically fills with fat and can no longer function properly. Many
times, cirrhosis is caused by the overconsumption of alcohol, which is considered a toxic substance by your
body. What organelles would be present in high numbers in your liver? Why?
7. One of the leading theories regarding the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is that the cells of the brain (neurons) fill
with cellular ‘junk’ and therefore can’t function properly. (Think of the show ‘Hoarders.’ You can’t function if
there’s a bunch of junk in your way). Many scientists believe this ‘junk’ accumulates because products in the cell
are not being packaged and shipped properly. What cell organelle is not working in these cells? How do you
know?
8. Type II diabetes is sometimes called ‘insulin-resistant’ diabetes because the body’s cells no longer respond to
the hormone insulin, which tells the cells to take up glucose. What cell membrane component do you think is no
longer working in insulin-resistance? Explain.
9. Tetracyclines are common antibiotics that can be found in some acne treatments. They work by preventing the
bacteria from making important enzymes.
a. What do enzymes do?
b. How would not having enzymes be harmful to bacteria?
c. Enzymes are proteins. Which organelle would tetracycline attack to keep the cell from making enzymes?