Cambridge International AS & A Level

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BIOLOGY 9700/23
Paper 2 AS Level Structured Questions May/June 2021

1 hour 15 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

INSTRUCTIONS
● Answer all questions.
● Use a black or dark blue pen. You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams or graphs.
● Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
● Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
● Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
● Do not write on any bar codes.
● You may use a calculator.
● You should show all your working and use appropriate units.

INFORMATION
● The total mark for this paper is 60.
● The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].

This document has 16 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (DH/CB) 200350/2
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Answer all questions.

1 The Golgi body, rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER)
form part of the internal membrane system of a cell. The membranes have a fluid mosaic structure.

Fig. 1.1 is a transmission electron micrograph of one area of a liver cell showing a region with
RER and a region with SER. Mitochondria are also visible in the image.

mitochondria

Fig. 1.1

(a) Describe the differences in structure and function between RER and SER.

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(b) Phospholipids are one of the main components of membranes.

Describe the structure of a phospholipid molecule.

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(c) One function of a Golgi body is to package molecules into Golgi vesicles.

(i) A Golgi body and Golgi vesicles are not visible in Fig. 1.1.

Describe the features, other than the presence of Golgi vesicles, that would help you
identify a Golgi body in a transmission electron micrograph of another area of the same
liver cell.

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(ii) Some Golgi vesicles contain secretory proteins for release from the cell.

Describe the sequence of events that occurs following the packaging of a secretory
protein into a Golgi vesicle to its release from the cell.

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(iii) Some Golgi vesicles contain glycoproteins or glycolipids to be added to the cell surface
membrane.

Outline the role of glycolipids in the cell surface membrane.

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[Total: 11]

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2 Smallpox, measles and HIV/AIDS are infectious diseases caused by different viruses. These
different viruses share some structural features.

(a) State one structural feature that would confirm that a pathogen is a virus.

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(b) The virus that causes smallpox belongs to a different genus to the virus that causes measles.

Name the viruses that cause these diseases.

smallpox ...................................................................................................................................

measles .............................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) Explain why antibiotics, such as penicillin, cannot be used to treat measles.

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(d) Antibiotics may be prescribed for a person with HIV/AIDS.

Suggest why antibiotics may be prescribed for a person with HIV/AIDs.

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(e) Smallpox is the only infectious disease of humans that has been globally eradicated. This
eradication was due mainly to a successful global vaccination programme. Most people who
were given the vaccine gained immunity to the disease.

A student correctly listed four reasons for the success of the global vaccination programme
for smallpox. These reasons are listed in Fig. 2.1.

• The virus did not mutate.

• A live virus, closely related to the smallpox virus, was used in the vaccine.
• The vaccine was freeze-dried and so was thermostable (heat stable).
• The vaccine was easy to administer (give), so little training was required.

Fig. 2.1

(i) Discuss how the reasons listed in Fig. 2.1 contributed to the success of the eradication
of smallpox.

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(ii) Table 2.1 lists four types of immunity.

Complete each row of Table 2.1 with a tick (3) or a cross (✗) to summarise the types of
immunity gained by a person who received the smallpox vaccine.

Table 2.1

type of immunity gained (3)

not gained (✗)
active immunity
artificial immunity
natural immunity
passive immunity
[1]

[Total: 11]
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3 HIV protease is an enzyme composed of two identical polypeptide chains. Each polypeptide chain
is 99 amino acids long. During translation, the amino acids are joined by peptide bonds to form the
polypeptide chain.

(a) Describe how a polypeptide of HIV protease is produced by the process of translation.

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(b) The synthesised polypeptide has a primary protein structure and can form a tertiary protein
structure after translation. There are more bond types in the tertiary structure.

Compare the peptide bond formed during translation with the types of bond made during
tertiary structure formation.

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(c) Some polypeptides are translated as part of one long polyprotein chain. After translation,
enzymes cut the polyprotein into separate functioning proteins.

HIV protease cuts a polyprotein that has been produced within the host cells of actively
replicating HIV. The separate proteins are required in the replication of the virus.

Fig. 3.1 shows how the two polypeptide chains of HIV protease form an enzyme with an
active site enclosed by flaps, forming the flap region.

flap region

active
site

Fig. 3.1

(i) The flap region of HIV protease is flexible.

With reference to Fig. 3.1, suggest and explain how the mechanism of action of HIV
protease can be described as an induced fit.

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(ii) Indinavir is one of the therapeutic drugs used in HIV anti-retroviral therapy (ART). It is
similar to the polyprotein substrate of HIV protease.

Suggest and explain how indinavir acts as a therapeutic drug.

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[Total: 12]
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4 Phloem sap is transported within phloem sieve tubes.

(a) Monosaccharides and disaccharides are transported as part of phloem sap, but
polysaccharides are not components of phloem sap.

Define the terms disaccharide and polysaccharide.

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(b) Sieve tubes are composed of phloem sieve tube elements.

Fig. 4.1 is a diagram of one sieve tube element and its companion cell.

Some of the structural features of the sieve tube element have not been included in the
diagram.

companion cell

phloem sieve
tube element

Fig. 4.1

(i) Complete Fig. 4.1 by drawing and labelling the structural features of the sieve tube
element that have not been included in the diagram. [3]

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(ii) A pressure gradient in a sieve tube causes the mass flow of phloem sap from the source
to the sink.

At the source, a decrease in water potential in the phloem sap and an increase in the
hydrostatic pressure of the phloem sap can be measured.

Describe the events that cause each of these changes in the phloem sap.

decrease in water potential ...............................................................................................

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increase in hydrostatic pressure .......................................................................................

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[Total: 7]

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5 (a) Fig. 5.1 shows four types of cell that can be seen in a prepared slide of blood taken from a
mammal.

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Fig. 5.1

Identify the four types of cell shown in Fig. 5.1.

Write the name of the cell type on the answer line provided by each cell in Fig. 5.1. [4]

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(b) During systole and diastole of the cardiac cycle, changes in blood pressure occur in the four
chambers of the heart.

Fig. 5.2 shows changes in the blood pressure in the left side of the heart and the aorta during
one cardiac cycle.

16

14

12

10

blood 8
pressure
/ kPa 6

–2
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
time / s

Fig. 5.2

With reference to the blood pressure changes shown in Fig. 5.2:

• state the maximum blood pressure reached in the left ventricle .......... kPa

• state the time at which the bicuspid (left atrioventricular) valve closes. ....... s
[2]

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(c) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can cause a condition known as pulmonary
hypertension. This involves an increase in systolic blood pressure in the right ventricle and in
the pulmonary arteries.

Fig. 5.3 is a summary of some of the events that can result from COPD.

COPD

chronic alveolar hypoxia

blood vessels leading to gas

exchange areas decrease in
lumen diameter (pulmonary
vasoconstriction)

pulmonary loss of alveolar

hypertension capillaries

Fig. 5.3

(i) Chronic alveolar hypoxia describes a condition where the partial pressure of oxygen in
the gas exchange regions of the lungs is always lower than normal.

Explain how COPD leads to chronic alveolar hypoxia.

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(ii) Explain how the loss of alveolar capillaries affects the functioning of the lungs in a person
with COPD.

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[Total: 11]
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6 The best time to obtain a clear image of chromosomes during a mitotic cell cycle is during the
metaphase stage.

Fig. 6.1 is a scanning electron micrograph of a group of human chromosomes at metaphase.

B
A

Fig. 6.1

(a) The group of chromosomes shown in Fig. 6.1 is magnified many times.

The actual width of the human chromosome between A—B is 1400 nm.

Calculate the magnification of the scanning electron micrograph shown in Fig. 6.1.

magnification × ...............................................................
[2]

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(b) Draw chromosome C in Fig. 6.1 in the space provided.

Label your drawing to show the structure of the chromosome.

[4]

(c) Suggest why the metaphase stage is the best time during a mitotic cell cycle to obtain a clear
image of chromosomes.

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(d) Name the stage of mitosis that immediately follows metaphase.

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[Total: 8]

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