Deck 14: Vaccines and Biotechnology-Based Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Question 1

In the figure, gray figures represent non- immune individuals; black figures represent immune individuals. Which population will be least likely to experience disease outbreak?

A) Population 1
B) Population 2
C) Population 3
D) None of the populations
E) All of the populations

Answer 1

Population 2

Question 2

A radial immunodiffusion test is helpful for

A) testing the patient's serum for diverse antigens.
B) quantifying the amount of an antigen present in a sample.
C) quantifying the amount of an antigen or of diverse antibody isotypes in a sample.
D) quantifying the amount of different antibody isotypes in a sample.
E) quantifying the amount of an antigen or of diverse antibody isotypes in a sample, or testing the patient's serum for diverse antigens.

Answer 2

quantifying the amount of an antigen present in a sample.

Question 3

A drawback of all inactivated vaccines is that

A) they are likely to cause disease in immunocompromised hosts.
B) they may mutate to a more virulent form.
C) they require complex genetic engineering techniques to produce.
D) they may cause secondary transmission from the immunized person to another host.
E) they are quickly cleared from the body, limiting antigen exposure.

Answer 3

they are quickly cleared from the body, limiting antigen exposure.

Question 4

The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) is preferred over other methods mainly because

A) working with the live pathogens required for PRNT is risky.
B) PRNT does not require working directly with a patient blood sample.
C) PRNT can detect low- levels of antibody.
D) PRNT can differentiate between closely related viruses which have similar antigens.
E) it is faster than most other methods.

Question 5

A major factor in the re- emergence of vaccine- preventable diseases in the early 21st century has been

A) microbes can develop resistance to vaccines just as they to do antibiotics.
B) a flawed research study incorrectly linking vaccination to autism was published in the late 1990s.
C) a flawed research study incorrectly linking vaccination to breast cancer was published in the late 1990s.
D) concerns about animal rights have led people to avoid pharmaceuticals and other products that might have been tested on animals.
E) fears of biological weapons after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks turned public sentiment against vaccines.

Question 6

In a recombinant vector vaccine, genetic material from a pathogen is placed into a and introduced to human cells.

A) harmless virus or bacteria
B) plasmid vector
C) human B or T cell
D) pathogenic virus or bacteria
E) human dendritic cell

Question 7

Plaque reduction neutralization tests are based on the fact that

A) T cells will release interferon- gamma during certain infections.
B) a reporter enzyme can be bound to an antibody to provide a visual change with a positive test.
C) antibodies bound to antigen will precipitate in a gel matrix.
D) antibodies have two antigen- binding sites and will cause clumping when bound to antigen.
E) the presence of antibodies in a patient's serum will prevent viral infection of cells in culture.

Question 8

Live attenuated vaccines

A) are the closest to the actual infectious agent encountered in nature.
B) are the closest to the actual infectious agent encountered in nature and stimulate potent immune responses to multiple antigens on the pathogen.
C) require the use of an adjuvant.
D) stimulate potent immune responses to multiple antigens on the pathogen.
E) are closest to the actual infectious agent encountered in nature and require the use of an adjuvant.

Question 9

The aspect of the immune response that vaccines are based on is

A) stimulation of cellular, as opposed to humoral, immunity.
B) stimulation of phagocytosis.
C) protection of the normal microbiota.
D) inflammation and fever.
E) production of memory cells and high antibody titers from pathogen exposure.

Question 10

In the practice of variolation, how were patients exposed to the smallpox pathogen?

A) Babies were nursed by women who had already had smallpox.
B) They were exposed to bedding or clothes of a person with smallpox.
C) They were placed in a room with a person who currently had smallpox.
D) They were exposed to dried scabs from smallpox lesions.
E) They were exposed to a bovine version of the disease, which is mild in humans.

Question 11

A DNA vaccine involves placing genes into a plasmid and introducing the plasmid into human cells. Human cells then transcribe and translate the genes to produce antigen which immunize the recipient. What is the source of the genes being introduced?

A) a harmless virus
B) a laboratory animal (such as a mouse)
C) a member of the patient's microbiome
D) a pathogen
E) human B or T cells

Question 12

Adjuvants appear to work by

A) encouraging the uptake and processing of antigens by dendritic cells.
B) stimulating cytokine release and encouraging the uptake and processing of antigens by dendritic cells.
C) stimulating isotype- switching in B cells.
D) stimulating isotype- switching in B cells and cytokine release.
E) stimulating cytokine release.

Question 13

In a direct ELISA, the reporter enzyme

A) reacts directly with the antigen the assay is seeking and chemically modifies an added substrate to generate a colorimetric or chemiluminescent change.
B) is bound to the detection antibody.
C) reacts directly with the antigen the assay is seeking.
D) is bound to the detection antibody and chemically modifies an added substrate to generate a colorimetric or chemiluminescent change.
E) chemically modifies an added substrate to generate a colorimetric or chemiluminescent change.

Question 14

Herd immunity describes

A) the protection conferred to non- immunized people when a sizable portion of the rest of the population is immunized.
B) the temporary immunity an infant receives from its mother during gestation and from breastfeeding.
C) the process of spacing out vaccinations in infants to just one per doctor's visit.
D) the process of immunizing animals so that people do not acquire zoonotic diseases.
E) the social phenomenon of vaccine refusal reinforced by internet memes and social media

Question 15

Advantages that immunological diagnostics have over biochemical testing include all except

A) identification of both cellular and viral pathogens.
B) detection of an organism that has not been previously identified.
C) identification of organisms that cannot be cultured in the lab.
D) faster completion times.
E) identification of past exposure to a pathogen, not just a current infection.

Question 16

Conjugate vaccines which link the target antigen to a more immunogenic antigen are usually for

A) vaccines against bacterial polysaccharide antigens.
B) vaccines against viral envelopes.
C) vaccines against viral nucleic acid.
D) vaccines against bacterial exotoxins.
E) vaccines against Gram- negative endotoxin.

Question 17

Agglutination tests make use of the fact that

A) T cells will release interferon- gamma during certain infections.
B) antibodies have two antigen- binding sites and will cause clumping when bound to antigen.
C) antibodies bound to antigen will precipitate in a gel matrix.
D) a reporter enzyme can be bound to an antibody to provide a visual change with a positive test.
E) the presence of antibodies in a patient's serum will prevent viral infection of cells in culture.

Question 18

According to the agglutination tests pictured below, what is the blood type of the sample being tested?

A) A
B) B
C) O
D) AB
E) Could be either A or B

Question 19

A vaccine additive which enhances the body's natural immune response is called a(n)

A) recombinant.
B) attenuant.
C) adjuvant.
D) booster.
E) toxoid.

Question 20

The technique of vaccination as developed by Jenner was an improvement over variolation because

A) the smallpox virus mutates frequently but the cowpox virus does not.
B) cowpox vaccination was not just preventative but could also cure an active case of smallpox.
C) cowpox was common in Europe at the time while smallpox was not.
D) the cowpox virus used by Jenner was not fatal to humans but provided protection against smallpox.
E) Jenner's technique required a lower rate of herd immunity to prevent the spread of smallpox.

Question 21

Recombinant DNA technologies are most often used for

A) creating billions of copies of a target gene in a few hours, measuring expression levels of a gene in a particular cell, producing large amounts of a particular protein quickly and easily, and genetic screening of newborns for inherited diseases.
B) measuring expression levels of a gene in a particular cell.
C) creating billions of copies of a target gene in a few hours.
D) genetic screening of newborns for inherited diseases.
E) producing large amounts of a particular protein quickly and easily.

Question 22

Which aspect of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is mismatched with its description?

A) variable temperatures: the highest temperature required for double- stranded DNA separation, the lowest temperature to allow primers to anneal, and a midrange- temperature for DNA replication
B) Taq polymerase: a DNA- replication enzyme which functions at high temperatures
C) dNTPs: building blocks of DNA
D) template DNA: the DNA to be copied; must be present at a high concentration for the procedure to work
E) DNA primers: sequences specifically chosen to be complementary to the DNA which flanks a target gene or region of interest

Question 23

While performing an ELISA, a lab technician fails to rinse away unbound detection antibody from the wells before adding the substrate for the reporter enzyme. What is the likely outcome of this error?

A) All wells, including controls, will indicate a negative result.
B) All wells, including controls, will indicate a positive result.
C) The test results will not be affected.
D) The control wells will indicate a negative result, but the wells with the test sample will indicate a positive result.
E) The outcome cannot be determined from this information.

Question 24

Genome mapping

A) documents the position of every nucleotide and provides a blueprint for the proteins and regulatory RNAs produced by a cell.
B) documents the position of every nucleotide.
C) may reveal the presence of "pathogenicity islands" as well as information about genes for basic cellular functions.
D) documents the position of every nucleotide, provides a blueprint for the proteins and regulatory RNAs produced by a cell, and may reveal the presence of "pathogenicity islands" as well as information about genes for basic cellular functions.
E) provides a blueprint for the proteins and regulatory RNAs produced by a cell.

Question 25

A genetics- based test which would help physicians determine whether a given a cancer will recur, or what types of chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatments would be most successful would be

A) CRISPR- Cas9.
B) genome mapping.
C) DNA microarray.
D) real- time PCR.
E) recombinant DNA techniques.

Question 26

Advantages of the interferon- gamma release assay (IGRA) over the traditional TB skin test include all of the following except

A) IGRA can be used on persons who have been vaccinated against TB.
B) IGRAs are sensitive enough to detect early cases of TB.
C) IGRA only detects active TB infections.
D) IGRA can provide results within a day.
E) IGRA requires only one patient visit as opposed to two with the skin test.

Question 27

The risk of a vaccine for an immunocompromised individual is higher for inactivated vaccines than for live attenuated vaccines.

Question 28

Vaccines are only necessary for infants and children.

Question 29

In order to successfully and safely deliver a gene to a human cell, a virus vector must be

A) pathogenic but not infectious.
B) both infectious and pathogenic.
C) infectious but not pathogenic.
D) a retrovirus.
E) packaged with RNA rather than DNA.

Question 30

An indirect ELISA is pictured. In which step is the detector antibody added to the assay?

A) step 1
B) step 2
C) step 3
D) step 4
E) steps 3 and 4

Question 31

The more closely a vaccination agent resembles the actual infectious agent, the more likely a strong adaptive immune response will be elicited.

Question 32

The interferon- gamma release assay for tuberculosis infection works because

A) the TB bacterium releases interferon- gamma.
B) the presence of interferon- gamma indicates a person is susceptible to TB infection.
C) the T cells of an infected person release more interferon- gamma than that of a non- infected person.
D) individuals who have had the TB vaccine can be identified by the amount of interferon- gamma in their blood.
E) one can perform an indirect ELISA to detect antibodies to interferon- gamma in a patient with TB.

Question 33

Compared to a direct ELISA, a sandwich ELISA

A) is less sensitive.
B) does not depend on a reporter enzyme.
C) only requires the use of one antibody.
D) can be designed to be read without a plate reader, making it suitable for home use.
E) does not require unbound antibody to be washed away.

Question 34

Reverse transcription PCR is used specifically to

A) detect the presence of gene expression in a gives cell.
B) detect the presence of RNA viruses.
C) measure how many copies of a specific gene are in a sample.
D) replace a mutated gene with a corrected gene.
E) perform PCR at cooler temperatures.

Question 35

The CRISPR- Cas9 system uses all except which of the following?

A) reverse transcriptase enzyme
B) an enzyme to cut both strands of DNA at the target site
C) a guide RNA which locates the gene to be edited
D) prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells to be edited
E) replacement DNA to be inserted at the cut site

Question 36

DNA microarrays reveal

A) if reverse transcriptase is present in a given cell.
B) which genes are found in a given cell.
C) which genes are being expressed in a given cell.
D) if a particular gene was acquired via horizontal gene transfer.
E) if any genes are mutated in a given cell.

Question 37

Immunological diagnostic tests are based on the fact that a given antibody will bind only with a specific antigen.

Question 38

The correct order of steps to follow when using recombinant DNA technology to produce a protein for pharmacological use is

A) isolate the desired gene - purify the expressed protein - grow the transformed cells into suitable quantities - insert the gene into an expression vector - transform host cells with the expression vector.
B) purify the expressed protein - insert the gene into an expression vector - transform host cells with the expression vector - grow the transformed cells into suitable quantities - isolate the desired gene.
C) grow the transformed cells into suitable quantities - transform host cells with the expression vector - insert the gene into an expression vector -isolate the desired gene - purify the expressed protein.
D) transform host cells with the expression vector - grow the transformed cells into suitable quantities - isolate the desired gene - insert the gene into an expression vector - purify the expressed protein.
E) isolate the desired gene - insert the gene into an expression vector - transform host cells with the expression vector - grow the transformed cells into suitable quantities - purify the expressed protein.

Question 39

Which enzyme is used to generate compatible sticky ends in order to join a desired gene to a plasmid vector in recombinant DNA techniques?

A) CRISPR- Cas9
B) Taq polymerase
C) reverse transcriptase
D) restriction enzymes
E) DNA ligase

Question 40

How does immunofluorescence microscopy detect rabies in brain tissue of an infected animal?

A) Fluorescent- tagged antibodies bind to rabies antigen in the tissue and are visible in a specialized microscope.
B) Rabies virus naturally fluoresces under ultraviolet light.
C) Fluorescent- tagged antibodies bind to the antibodies generated to fight the infection.
D) Fluorescent- tagged antibodies bind to cytotoxic T cells that are attempting to kill infected cells in the tissue.
E) Fluorescent- tagged antibodies provide light needed to see the virus particles in the microscope.

Question 41

The CRISPR- Cas9 gene editing system so far can only be used to alter prokaryotic cells.

Question 42

A plaque reduction neutralization assay is performed with a patient serum. The presence of abundant plaques on the plate indicates that the patient is currently infected with the virus in question.

Question 43

Describe the principles of ELISA and contrast the three types.

Question 44

A direct ELISA is most useful for detection of antigens while an indirect ELISA is used to determine if a patient has a particular type of antibody in their blood.

Question 45

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques can detect the presence as few as a single viral particle in a sample.

Question 46

Describe the different vaccine types, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Question 47

Describe how the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) works and discuss its applications.