plumiMutations: Edexcel International A Level Biology questions
Edexcel International A Level Biology past-paper questions on 2.6.1 Mutations, 2019–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available.
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All 37 questions on Mutations, as a list
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q2(a) (2 marks): State what is meant by the term cancer. (2)
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q8(a) (4 marks): In some types of OI, the collagen is poorly formed and lacks strength. Explain how a substitution mutation could result in collagen that lacks strength. (4)
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q7(a)(i) (2 marks): Describe how these types of mutation affect the DNA base sequence of a gene. (2)
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q7(a)(ii) (4 marks): Explain why these animals can survive with a greater number of substitution mutations than insertion and deletion mutations. (4)
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q7(a)(iii) (1 mark): Suggest which set of data is the most valid. Give a reason for your answer. (1)
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q7(b)(i) (2 marks): Calculate the mean mutation rate for the mouse. Draw a line of best fit onto the graph to help you. (2) Answer number of mutations per cell year–1
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q7(b)(ii) (3 marks): Describe three conclusions that can be made from these graphs. (3) 1 2 3
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q7(b)(iii) (2 marks): Suggest two reasons for the differences in the number of mutations per cell of these species of animal. (2) 1 2
- June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q2(b) (1 mark): Name two types of gene mutation. (1) 1 2
- June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q2(c) (2 marks): The graph shows the estimated mutation rate in four groups of primates. 6 Mutation rate / ×10–9 per base pair per year 5 4 1 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Mean age when
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q5(a) (2 marks): Explain how a cell can become a cancer cell. (2)
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q3(c)(ii) (3 marks): Explain what had to occur for changes in these flies to be inherited. (3)
- October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q7(c)(iii) (3 marks): Mutations in the gene coding for the LDL‑R can result in an increased risk of CVD. Explain why mutations in this gene can increase the risk of CVD. (3)
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q7(b)(i) (2 marks): Explain how a mutation can result in the formation of a neoantigen. (2)
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q3(c) (2 marks): Suggest why a combination of drugs could be more effective in treating people with cystic fibrosis than each drug used on its own. (2)
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q8(c)(ii) (6 marks): Discuss the possible effects that a mutation in one of the genes coding for this blood type could have on the phenotype of individual 3. (6)
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q8(a)(i) (1 mark): It was suggested that this mutant allele arose in meiosis during prophase I. Suggest how this mutant allele could be produced in prophase I. (1)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q4(a)(i) (1 mark): State what is meant by the term mutation. (1)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q8(c) (3 marks): Explain how free radicals (reactive oxygen species, ROS) can cause damage to mitochondrial DNA (paragraphs 2 and 4). (3)
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8(b)(i) (1 mark): Name two other types of mutation. (1) 1 2
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8(b)(ii) (1 mark): Estimate the percentage of cancers caused by type 3 substitution mutations. (1) Answer %
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8(b)(iii) (4 marks): A type 1 substitution mutation in a gene alters the DNA and mRNA but does not affect the protein synthesised from the mutated gene. Explain how a substitution m
- June 2022, Unit 5, Q5(c) (4 marks): Mutations in the genes coding for voltage‑gated calcium ion channels have been linked to neurological conditions. Explain how these mutations might cause these
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8(a)(i) (1 mark): Give the seventh triplet code in the gene for the β‑globin chain in a person who has sickle cell disease. (1)
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8(a)(ii) (1 mark): Name the type of mutation that causes sickle cell disease. (1)
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8(c)(iv) (3 marks): Sickle cell disease can result in death. Explain why the changes in the structure of haemoglobin and the shape of the red blood cells could result in death in a
- January 2022, Unit 5, Q8(e) (3 marks): Suggest how ES can damage mtDNA (paragraph 7). (3)
- October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q1(a) (1 mark): What is a mutation? (1) A a change in the amino acid sequence in DNA B a change in the amino acid sequence in a protein C a change in the base sequence in DNA D
- October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q1(b) (1 mark): Name two types of mutation. (1) 1 2
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q5(c)(ii) (2 marks): Cystic fibrosis results from different mutations in the CFTR gene. Explain how the graph provides evidence that cystic fibrosis results from different mutations
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q7(a) (1 mark): Mutations can give rise to cancer. State the meaning of the term mutation. (1)
- January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q8(c) (2 marks): Congenital lactose intolerance (CLI) is an extremely rare genetic disorder. Most people with CLI are found in one country. Suggest why most people with CLI are
- January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q6(b) (4 marks): The presence or absence of teeth in chickens is one example of a discontinuous phenotype. Chicken genomes contain the genes for tooth production, but chickens d
- January 2021, Unit 5, Q5(a) (3 marks): Explain why mutations in the RPE65 gene can result in blindness. (3)
- January 2021, Unit 5, Q8(f) (2 marks): Suggest why the stems of the different versions of haemagglutinin molecules are the same but the heads can be different (paragraph 15). (2)
- October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q6(b)(ii) (5 marks): Explain the possible effects on a protein if there is a substitution mutation in the 9th base in this DNA strand. Use information in the table to support your a
- October 2020, Unit 5, Q8(e) (4 marks): Explain how ‘a gene variant that produces a defective form of an enzyme’ reduces the effectiveness of clopidogrel (paragraph 16). (4)
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