Ella ordered holiday cards to send to her friends and family…

Ella ordered holiday cards to send to her friends and family. When she received her order of cards in the mail, she spotted a glaring typo. The cards read: From the Miller Family, rather than: From the Stevenson Family. Ella realized then that she never edited the small, name field at the bottom of the card template before she placed her online order – the initial name on the template was the “Miller Family.” Although the name is written in small font and may or may not be noticeable to the reader, Ella is confronted with a problem. The first decision she needs to make is:

Background Treponema pallidum is the bacterium that causes s…

Background Treponema pallidum is the bacterium that causes syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. It is highly motile, allowing it to move easily through bodily fluids and spread between hosts. This organism has a single chromosome with relatively few genes and has a distinctive corkscrew shape with multiple twists along its length. Question Based on this information, what type of cell is treponema most likely to be?

Scenario A 57-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital wi…

Scenario A 57-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with an infected toe. The infection was spreading rapidly, but doctors were unable to culture the microorganism in the lab. Initially, they treated her with antibiotics (which only kill prokaryotic cells), but the infection did not improve. This led doctors to suspect the microbe was a fungus rather than a bacterium. They administered Amphotericin, a drug that targets ergosterols—a component found in fungal cell membranes but not in human cells (which contain cholesterol instead). Shortly after receiving Amphotericin, the patient improved, the infection stopped spreading, and she was eventually released from the hospital. Question Based on this scenario, what should the doctors’ hypothesis be?

Scenario You are testing a new treatment drug for AIDS patie…

Scenario You are testing a new treatment drug for AIDS patients. Your results show the following: 75% of patients respond well to the treatment. 25% show no improvement or experience a decline in health. Question Based on these data, how should you scientifically proceed with the drug trial?