plumiBacteria, viruses, TB and HIV: Edexcel International A Level Biology questions
Every Edexcel International A Level Biology exam question on Bacteria, viruses, TB and HIV (specification points 6.5–6.6), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
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Q9(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q9(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q9(a)
The whole paper ↗Q7(a)
The whole paper ↗Q5(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ5(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q5(b)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q5(b)(iv)
The whole paper ↗Q5(a)
The whole paper ↗Q5(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q5(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q5(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q5(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q7(e)
The whole paper ↗Q2(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ3(a)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ8(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q8(c)
The whole paper ↗Q9(a)
The whole paper ↗Q9(b)
The whole paper ↗
All 56 questions on Bacteria, viruses, TB and HIV, as a list
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q9(a)(i) (1 mark): Calculate how many tonnes of rice are lost if 20% of the harvest is lost. Give your answer in standard form. (1) Answer tonnes
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q9(a)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why it is important to identify rice plants infected with RYMV as early as possible. (2)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q9(a) (6 marks): Explain how retroviruses introduce ERVs into human cells and how the ancient ERVs can be transmitted to offspring in families. (6)
- October 2024, Unit 4, Q7(a) (4 marks): Explain how infection with these bacteria results in the death of the leaf cells and eventually the whole plant. (4)
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q5(b)(i) (1 mark): Which of the following statements are true? (1) 1 Ebola virus has the same type of genetic material as herpes simplex virus 2 Both Ebola virus and human immun
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q5(b)(ii) (1 mark): State the function of the envelope proteins. (1)
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q5(b)(iii) (2 marks): Explain why the herpes simplex virus has to be modified before it can be used to infect cancer cells. (2)
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q5(b)(iv) (2 marks): Explain how the infection of a cancer cell with herpes simplex virus can result in the death of this cell. (2)
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q5(a) (4 marks): Explain why HIV infection causes tuberculosis (TB) to be worse. (4)
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q5(b)(i) (2 marks): Suggest two reasons why these figures are only estimates. (2)
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q5(b)(ii) (1 mark): Calculate the number of people with both infections. Give your answer in standard form. (1) Answer
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q5(c)(i) (2 marks): Comment on the relationship between the number of people who have TB and the percentage of people who have HIV. (2)
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q5(c)(ii) (3 marks): Describe how the strength of the relationship between the number of people who have TB and the percentage of people who have HIV could be determined. (3)
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q7(e) (2 marks): In oncolytic virotherapy, viruses that destroy cancer cells are injected into the patient. Not all types of virus are suitable for this therapy. Suggest two fea
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q2(a)(i) (1 mark): Which labelled structure contains the genes coding for the enzymes involved in photosynthesis? (1) A P B Q C R D T
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q3(a) (1 mark): Viruses such as the vanilla mosaic virus damage the leaves of vanilla plants. The vanilla mosaic virus has a similar structure to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Wh
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q8(a)(ii) (3 marks): The diagram shows this polyprotein and the function of some of the individual proteins it contains. The arrows indicate where the individual proteins need to be
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q8(c) (2 marks): Another group of scientists infected the eggs of mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria. The Wolbachia do not harm the mosquitoes but compete with the virus so that
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q9(a) (1 mark): In 2019, an estimated 1.2 million children, 3.2 million women and 5.6 million men developed TB. Calculate the ratio of children to women to men who developed TB
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q9(b) (3 marks): Explain how infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis may result in death. (3)
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q9(c)(iii) (4 marks): The scientists identified a protein that could be responsible for inhibiting the activation of the macrophages. They used Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a muta
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q9(c)(iv) (1 mark): Suggest how this protein, released by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, could be used to develop a treatment for TB. (1)
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q2(a) (3 marks): For each structure, put one cross in the appropriate box, in each row, to show which viruses have that structure. (3) Virus Structure both Ebola neither Ebola E
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q2(b)(i) (1 mark): Name the enzyme, found in some types of virus, that can synthesise DNA from an RNA template. (1)
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q2(b)(ii) (1 mark): Suggest why this DNA polymerase may be a target for drugs used to treat cancer. (1)
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(a)(i) (1 mark): Which structure is RNA? (1) A R B Q C S D T
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(a)(ii) (1 mark): How many of the following structures contain protein? • structure Q • structure R • structure S (1) A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(a)(iii) (1 mark): Which virus has structure P and contains RNA? (1) A Ebola virus only B Ebola virus and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) C Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) only D Neither Eb
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(b)(i) (2 marks): The data plotted for the number of people infected with HIV has been divided by 10. Explain why these numbers were divided by 10. (2)
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(b)(ii) (2 marks): Calculate the mean rate of increase in the number of people infected with HIV from 2005 to 2010. Express your answer in standard form to an appropriate number o
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(b)(iii) (2 marks): Explain why the number of people infected with HIV is going up although the number of new infections and deaths is going down, after 2005. (2)
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q6(b)(iv) (1 mark): State how the graph can be used to estimate the number of deaths in 2025. (1)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q3(a) (4 marks): Explain why the virus is an immunodeficiency virus. (4)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q3(b)(i) (2 marks): Explain how these two drugs reduce the development of HIV. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q3(b)(ii) (2 marks): These two drugs are often given in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. Suggest why patients are given combinations of drugs. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q3(b)(iii) (2 marks): If a patient stops taking the antiretroviral drugs, the number of virus particles increases again. Suggest why this increase occurs. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q4(a) (1 mark): How many of the following statements are correct for λ phage? • the genetic material is DNA • the capsid structure is described as complex • the genetic materia
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q4(b) (2 marks): Describe the role of the λ phage J protein. Use the information in the diagram to support your answer. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q4(c)(i) (1 mark): Give one reason why sugars are important to E. coli. (1)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q4(c)(ii) (6 marks): Discuss how E. coli and λ phage could interact and develop in their evolutionary race for existence. Use all the information in this question to support your an
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q2(a)(i) (1 mark): The rabies virus has an envelope. Which of the following pairs of viruses have an envelope? (1) A Ebola virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) B human imm
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q2(a)(ii) (1 mark): The structure of the rabies capsid is described as complex. Which of the following has a complex capsid structure? (1) A Ebola virus B human immunodeficiency vi
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q2(a)(iii) (1 mark): Rabies virus is an RNA virus. How many of the following viruses are RNA viruses? • Ebola virus • human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) lambda phage (λ phage) • • t
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q2(b)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why a positive RNA strand has to be made. (2)
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q2(c) (4 marks): Lemurs are found in Madagascar. It is thought that they might carry rabies viruses. The photograph shows a lemur. (Source: Caroline Wilcox) A person was bitten
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q8(a)(ii) (3 marks): This patient did not respond to the combination of antibiotics, and later needed a lung transplant. Suggest why this patient needed a lung transplant. (3)
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q8(b) (6 marks): Phage therapy was used to treat the Mycobacterium infection in this patient. Phages are viruses that target bacterial cells. The graph shows how the number of M
- January 2021, Unit 5, Q8(a) (2 marks): The Ebola virus can infect endothelial cells. Describe how this virus can cause internal bleeding (paragraph 1). (2)
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q5(a) (1 mark): Which virus can infect bacteria? (1) A Ebola virus B human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) C lambda phage (λ phage) D tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q5(b)(iii) (2 marks): Lysins break down the cell wall of bacteria. Explain the role of lysins in the lytic cycle. (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q5(a)(i) (2 marks): The viral genome (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q5(a)(ii) (2 marks): The glycoproteins (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q5(b) (2 marks): The enzyme RNA polymerase is involved in RNA transcription. Explain why the structure of the Ebola virus includes RNA polymerase. (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q5(c) (2 marks): The proteins VP24 and VP40 are involved in virus assembly. State what is meant by the term virus assembly, using Ebola as an example. (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q5(d) (2 marks): The protein VP35 inhibits the production of interferon by host cells. Explain why the structure of the Ebola virus includes VP35. (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q8(b)(i) (1 mark): The virus used in this procedure is modified so that it is not pathogenic. Which virus would be suitable to use in Step 2? (1) A Ebola virus B human immunodefic
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