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1. What is a healthy organism?

Discuss the difficulties of defining the terms health and disease
~ Health is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as:
A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity.
Physical health refers to the physical state of the body and includes such things as our
level of fitness, body weight and our proper functioning of the systems in the body.
Mental health is related to our ability to function effectively in society and to cope with
changing situations in our lives.
Social health is our ability to interact, communicate and socialise effectively.
~ Health is difficult to define as it is very broad, and difficult to achieve a healthy status.
The concept of health for individuals is very subjective and depends on their lifes
circumstances. What is health for one person may not be regarded as healthy for another.
- E.g. A physically fit person who is not suffering from a disease would consider themselves
to be healthy. Whereas a person who has a disability or chronic disease, may describe
themselves as healthy if their symptoms are not as severe one morning, compared to
previous days.
~ Disease any condition that adversely affects the normal functioning of any part of a
living thing.
~ Disease is difficult to define as many definitions are broad and imprecise. Using the
definition, conditions that would not normally be a disease would be. It could mean that a
broken arm would be classed as a disease as it adversely affects the normal functioning of
the body.
The normal functioning in the definition is also different for different individuals.
- E.g. Absent-mindedness in the elderly is considered to be a normal sign of aging,
whereas it could be a manifestation of a disease in the young.
Outline how the function of genes, mitosis, cell differentiation and specialisation assist in
the maintenance of health
~ Genes:
The maintenance of health is dependent on the information stored in the DNA of each cell.
A gene is a hereditary unit that controls the production of polypeptides that make up
proteins. A malfunction in any particular gene may result in the inability of the cells to
function properly and can lead to disease.
E.g. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that is caused by the mutation of the CFTR gene.
~ Mitosis:
Mitosis is the process of cell division by which identical body cells are produced to allow for:
- Growth, Repair and maintenance.
This allows all cells to function normally and tissues to be repaired and maintained. If cells
are damaged through disease or injury, they are replaced by the division of healthy cells
close to the infected site.
~ Cell differentiation:
Cells mature and take on different structural features, so that they become structurally
suited to perform a specific function in the body.

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~ Specialisation:
Specific genes are switched on in order to perform a particular function in the body.
Example Nerve cells have a particular structure and specific genes that allow the transfer
of electrochemical messages.
Use available evidence to analyse the links between gene expression and maintenance
and repair of body tissues
Gene expression occurs when a gene in a cell is switched on and the DNA code is
converted into polypeptides that control the structure and functions of the cell. If the
normal expression of a gene is affected in some way, this may cause errors in the processes
that would maintain and repair tissues. Correct gene expression is therefore essential for
ongoing maintenance and repair of cells.
The types of genes responsible for the regulation of the cell cycle and mitosis are:
Proto-oncogenes: Stimulate cell growth and mitosis.
Tumour suppressor genes: Slow down or stop cell growth and mitosis.
Mutations to these genes can prevent cell death and stop production of certain proteins. In
some cases, mutations to certain genes affect the normal body functioning in such a way to
cause uncontrolled cell death, which leads to conditions such as Alzheimers disease.

2. Over 3000 years ago the Chinese and Hebrews were advocating cleanliness in
food, water and personal hygiene
Distinguish between infectious and non-infectious disease
~ Infectious disease A disease that is caused by an organism or infective agent, known as
a pathogen. An infectious disease can be transferred from one organism to another.
E.g. Chickenpox, AIDS, hepatitis and influenza.
~ Non-infectious disease A disease that is not caused by a pathogen and, with the
exception of inherited disease, cannot be passed from one person to another.
E.g. Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and skin cancer
Explain why cleanliness in food, water and personal hygiene practices assist in control of
disease
~ Cleanliness in food:
Many pathogens can be transferred from person to person through food.
E.g. Salmonellosis is a disease caused by bacteria called salmonella and is transmitted
through undercooked foods.
Methods to control the transmission of disease from food sources.
- Storing food in refrigerators prevents most bacterial growth as temperatures are below
5C.
- Heating all animal origin based foods to prevent contracting diseases, such as
Salmonella.
- Washing all utensils with hot soapy water to prevent cross-contamination and
transmission of pathogens.

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~ Cleanliness in water:
The maintenance of water quality is important in order to minimise the risk of pathogens
multiplying and to reduce the risk of transmission of diseases through contaminated water.
Water that has been contaminated with the faeces of animals could contain unsafe levels
of micro-organisms, such as Giardia, and if consumed may cause symptoms of abdominal
cramping and diarrhoea.
Cholera is a potentially fatal disease that transmitted in water that has been
contaminated with untreated sewage. Therefore, the treatment of water is therefore
important in the successful control of disease.
~ Personal hygiene practices:
Personal hygiene involves keeping our bodies and any openings clean to reduce the risk
of pathogens entering our bodies, or transmission of these pathogens to others.
Practices.
- Washing hands with soap and water to prevent the spread of pathogens that cause
diseases such as diarrhoea.
- Coughing and sneezing into a handkerchief to prevent airborne droplets from
spreading to others and preventing diseases such as influenza.
Identify the conditions under which an organism is described as a pathogen
~ Pathogen Any organism or infective agent that lives on or in another organism, and
causes a disease.
E.g. Prions, viruses, fungi and bacteria
Transmission of pathogens:
- Direct. The pathogens pass directly from person to person.
E.g. Touching an infected person
- Indirect. The pathogen is transferred from the environment to the person.
E.g. Air or food
- Vector. Pathogen is passed from person to person by another organism (a vector).
E.g. Mosquito is a vector that can transmit the malaria parasite.

Identify data sources, plan and choose equipment or resources to perform a first-hand
investigation to identify microbes in food or in water
Independent variable Water source
Dependent variable Type and number of microbe colonies
Controlled variable Temperature
Size of agar plates
Amount of water tested
Exposure to sunlight
Aim: To identify microbes in various water sources around the school.
Method: 1. Collect the equipment.
2. Sterilise the dropper by washing inside and out with boiled water.
3. Sterilise the agar plates by heating them in a pressure cooker.
4. Take the empty dropper to different locations and collect samples.
5. Open the petri dish and pour the water sample inside.
6. Close the dish and label. Store the plates in an incubator with agar slide at 37C.
7. Repeat experiment 100s of times.

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Safety:

Risk
Microbes entering bodies.
Microbial colonies travelling through the air
and entering bodies.
Results:
Water Source
Puddles
Bubblers
Science lab sink

Safety
Constantly wash hands before and after
handling the petri dishes.
Dispose of the petri dishes correctly.

Observations
Many bacterial colonies spread over the dish. The
colonies had a spherical form and yellow in colour.
Thick colonies of bacteria grew, large and irregular
in form.
Small colonies of circular shaped bacteria grew.

Gather, process and analyse information from secondary sources to describe ways in
which drinking water can be treated and use available evidence to explain how these
methods reduce the risk of infection from pathogens
~ Treatment of drinking water:
Water is drawn from a river and passed into a treatment pipe.
Sedimentation of some particles will occur and they will settle out to the bottom.
A coagulant (aluminium or iron) is added to promote clumping of sediment particles in
the water and form larger particles, called floc.
Flocculation occurs, where the floc or suspended particles sink to the bottom of the pipe
and removed as sludge or float to the top and skimmed off.
The particles that are left in the water are removed by the process of filtration. This
occurs in many cases by the water being passed through a bed of fine sand particles.
Once all particles have been removed, gaseous chlorine dissolved in the water. The
chlorine disinfects the water by destroying bacteria.
Fluorine is added in low concentrations (1ppm) to aid and increase the dental health of
growing children by strengthening tooth enamel.
~ Reduced risk of infection:
Sedimentation, coagulation and flocculation are very effective at removing fine suspended
particles that attract and hold bacteria and viruses to their surface. Filtration can remove
some of the larger micro-organisms from the water, which again will reduce the risk of
infection from pathogens in the water. Disinfection will kill any remaining pathogens in the
water, further reducing the risk of infection.