Cystic Fibrosis Webquest Worksheet

1. What are the signs and symptoms of cystic fibrosis?
You will notice an extra build up of mucus, and a saltier taste to the skin. Generally, people with cystic fibrosis will have a saltier taste in their sweat.
2. How common is this disorder?
70,000 people in the world are affected, and there are 30,000 people affected in the US alone!
3. How is cystic fibrosis diagnosed?
This disease can be helped by prescribed medicine, but it can never be completely cured.
4. How is cystic fibrosis inherited? Does everyone that has a mutant gene for the protein have cystic fibrosis?
It is just a gene that can be inherited by the genes of the childs parents, but everyone who obtains the mutant gene does not necessarily have the disease but have a very good chance of ending up getting the disease.


Part 2
1. Explain the normal function of the protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis.
Normally, the movements of the ions bring water to the surface of the airways. The water keeps the mucus moist. That way, the normal proteins can function and control the amount of chloride ions to the cells. This protein is names CF transmembrane regulator (ion channel)
2. What happens to this protein in CF patients and what are the consequences for the health of these individuals? 
The defective protein means that the protein can no longer regulate the amount of chloride ions needed in the cells. This will cause blockage in the different channels, and will dry out the mucus. 


Part 3
1. Explain at least 3 treatments for the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.
You can try chest drainage therapy, lung transplants, and oxygen therapy.
2. Discuss at least 3 ways for parents to help their children who have cystic fibrosis
You can pat your kid on the back, play sports, or watch funny movies; whatever it takes to get the mucus out.

This is a chest radiograph of one of the most fatal diseases..cystic fibrosis!

Osmosis Lab

When we performed the osmosis lab, we tried testing four different types of substances. We tried methyl cellulose, cereal, tums, and corn starch. We took the tubes and added just a little bit of water to each of them. The reason we performed this experiment was to try and see how much water weight would be transferred into the substances. What we did was weighed the substances before, and weighed them after we waited for 24 hours. Not all of the substances ended up weighing the same, they were all different. The methyl cellulose started out at 4.71oz. and ended at 9.55 oz. The cereal started at 9.69, and ended at 13.08. Corn starch actually started out as the least weight, and ended up as the least weight as well. It also was the only substance that didnt really change. The tube weighed 6.57 ounces, and after 24 hours it weighed 6.98 ounces. The tube of tums had the biggest change, and weighed the most. The experiment did take a while for full results, but they were accurate.

Membrane Structures

In the membrane structure tutorial, I learned that there are two different environments, the hydrophilic aqueous cytoplasm and the hydrophilic membranes. The lipids are classified as hydrophobic because they contain molecules that have 16 to 18 carbon, hydrocarbon backbones with only little amounts of oxygen. Waxes, pigments, steroid hormones, and cell membranes are all served by lipids, these are its major components. Fats are constructed from two classes of molecules. Their structures can be anywhere from 16 to 22 carbons long. To build a triacylglycerol, there need to be three fatty acids attached to a glycerol through an ester bond between the carboxyl group of acids and and the three alcohol groups connected to the glycerol. The types of fats can either be saturated or unsaturated. Phospholipids are what are called amphipathic(a molecule with a polar and and a hydrophobic end). When you mix a phospholipid in a water  solution, they will start to self assemble into different structures that exclude the moleulecules from the hydrophobic tails. For Reece's and my model, we decided to construct a plasma membrane structural model. We drew the same model on our poster that's posted below.