plumiStem cells and gene expression: Edexcel International A Level Biology questions
Every Edexcel International A Level Biology exam question on Stem cells and gene expression (specification points 3.17–3.19), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
Paper
All papers
Exam
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Calculations
Q6(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q6(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q6(b)
The whole paper ↗Q6(c)
The whole paper ↗Q8(i)
The whole paper ↗Q7(a)
The whole paper ↗Q7(d)
The whole paper ↗Q6(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ4(c)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ5(b)
The whole paper ↗Q8(f)
The whole paper ↗Q8(b)
The whole paper ↗Q7(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ7(b)
The whole paper ↗Q7(c)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q8(e)
The whole paper ↗Q2(c)
The whole paper ↗Q4(a)
The whole paper ↗Q7(b)
The whole paper ↗Q4(b)(iii)
The whole paper ↗
All 48 questions on Stem cells and gene expression, as a list
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q6(a)(i) (2 marks): When nerve cells are damaged in this starfish, the gene sox2 is activated. Suggest how cell damage could lead to activation of this gene. (2)
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q6(a)(ii) (1 mark): Activation of the sox2 gene can stimulate body cells to become pluripotent stem cells. Give one difference between a pluripotent stem cell and a totipotent stem
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q6(b) (4 marks): One gene from this starfish pluripotent stem cell produces pre‑mRNA. The diagram shows how three different strands of active mRNA are produced from one strand o
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q6(c) (3 marks): Society has approved the use of stem cells taken from starfish for research. Suggest why society has approved the use of these stem cells. (3)
- June 2025, Unit 5, Q8(i) (3 marks): Explain why elderly men who have lost their Y chromosome have a higher risk of cancer (paragraphs 2, 3 and 20). (3)
- January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q7(a) (3 marks): Molecules of pre‑mRNA are produced by transcription of active genes. These molecules undergo post‑transcriptional changes to form active mRNA. Describe how post
- January 2025, Unit 5, Q7(d) (4 marks): As the brain develops some stem cells divide and differentiate into mature neurones, which requires ATP. Mature neurones develop axons and form synapses with ad
- October 2024, AS Unit 2, Q6(b)(ii) (1 mark): The zygote would develop into a morula and then into a blastocyst. Which row in the table is correct? (1) cells in the blastocyst the zygote is: inner mass are:
- June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q4(c) (1 mark): A fertilised egg cell develops into a morula and then a blastocyst. Which of the following are correct statements? 1. A blastocyst contains pluripotent stem cel
- June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q5(b) (4 marks): The development of an embryo into either a female or a male fruit fly is determined by two different proteins. The female specific Dsx-F protein leads to the de
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q8(f) (3 marks): Explain how a single-celled embryo of a zebrafish, injected with the colour producing gene, could develop into an adult with red skin cells (paragraphs 14, 15 a
- January 2024, Unit 5, Q8(b) (3 marks): Satellite cells are stem cells (paragraph 2). Explain how a specialised cell such as a muscle cell is produced from a stem cell. (3)
- October 2023, AS Unit 2, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Which of the following describes a morula? (1) A a hollow ball of pluripotent stem cells B a hollow ball of totipotent stem cells C a solid ball of pluripotent
- October 2023, AS Unit 2, Q7(b) (5 marks): As the fish embryo develops, different types of body cells and tissues are formed. One type of tissue that develops is skeletal muscle tissue. All the cells in
- October 2023, AS Unit 2, Q7(c)(iii) (2 marks): Explain why some people think that research into cancer treatments should not use embryonic stem cells. (2)
- October 2023, Unit 5, Q8(e) (4 marks): Describe how fibroblasts within the fascia could be transformed into myofibroblasts (paragraph 13). (4)
- June 2023, AS Unit 2, Q2(c) (3 marks): One gene can give rise to more than one type of protein through post‑transcriptional changes to the mRNA. One of these changes is the removal of introns. Explai
- June 2023, AS Unit 2, Q4(a) (2 marks): Structure B is a blastocyst. Describe the structure of a blastocyst. (2)
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q7(b) (4 marks): There are 14 different serotonin receptors found in the human nervous system. Three different genes are used to produce these receptors. Explain how three genes
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q4(b)(iii) (3 marks): A blastocyst develops from a morula. Compare and contrast the structure of a morula with the structure of a blastocyst. (3)
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q8(b) (2 marks): One treatment for AD is mRNA therapy. In this therapy, people are given the mRNA molecules needed for arginase production. The mRNA used in this therapy is acti
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q8(c)(i) (5 marks): Explain how a pluripotent stem cell could become a cell that synthesises arginase. (5)
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q8(c)(ii) (3 marks): Explain why society may support the use of hiPSC stem cells to treat patients with AD. (3)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q8(d) (3 marks): “The brain is a remarkable organ composed by highly differentiated cells… with different morphology, according to their role and their localization” (paragraph
- October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q6(b) (5 marks): A sperm cell is a specialised cell. Explain what happens at step D for the cell to become a specialised sperm cell. (5)
- October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q6(c)(i) (2 marks): Draw a diagram to show the arrangement of the cells of a blastocyst. (2)
- October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q6(c)(ii) (1 mark): The blastocyst contains some pluripotent stem cells. Which of the following describes these pluripotent stem cells? (1) A adult stem cells that can give rise to
- October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q6(d) (2 marks): The photograph shows a Mexican salamander. (Source: © Imagebroker/Alamy Stock Photo) Salamanders can regenerate damaged limbs and organs throughout their lives.
- June 2022, AS Unit 2, Q7(b) (4 marks): Plants that grow from a sweet pea seed contain stem cells. Describe how a stem cell in a plant can become a sclerenchyma cell. (4)
- June 2022, Unit 5, Q8(g) (1 mark): Suggest why embryological ENS cells may fail to colonise the bowel in a developing embryo (paragraph 13). (1)
- January 2022, AS Unit 2, Q3(b) (4 marks): Active mRNA is formed after post‑transcriptional modification of pre‑mRNA. The structure of pre‑mRNA produced from transcription is different from the structure
- January 2022, Unit 5, Q8(g) (2 marks): Explain the advantages of reprogramming ordinary somatic cells to behave like embryonic stem cells for use in stem cell‑based assays of toxicants (paragraph 11)
- October 2021, AS Unit 2, Q8(b)(ii) (4 marks): Some of the cells undergoing mitosis were from a beluga morula whereas some of the cells were from a beluga blastocyst. Explain how the cells of the beluga moru
- June 2021, AS Unit 2, Q8(b)(i) (4 marks): Explain the effect of this fungal infection on the growth of the plant. (4)
- June 2021, AS Unit 2, Q8(b)(ii) (6 marks): The fungus and the plant both benefit from this relationship. The fungus absorbs nutrients from the plant. The expression of certain genes in the plant cells is
- January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q4(b)(ii) (1 mark): Draw a circle around the part of the diagram that is a mouse morula. Label the circle ‘morula’. (1)
- 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
- October 2020, AS Unit 2, Q7(c) (5 marks): More than one type of protein can be synthesised from the RNA produced from one gene. The diagram shows parts of this process. DNA P Q R S T U V W X pre-mRNA P
- October 2020, AS Unit 2, Q7(d) (3 marks): The graphs show the activity of two genes, T and U, as a mouse zygote (fertilised egg cell) develops into a blastocyst. Gene T Gene U Activity Activity of gene
- October 2020, Unit 5, Q5(b)(i) (2 marks): State what is meant by the term pluripotent stem cell. (2)
- October 2020, Unit 5, Q5(b)(ii) (2 marks): The epithelial layer is checked to ensure that there are no stem cells present before it is placed in the eye of the patient. Suggest why this check is carried
- October 2020, Unit 5, Q8(f) (3 marks): Researchers have used stem cells to produce spinal cord tissue from individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These functioning tissues contain motor neur
- October 2020, Unit 5, Q8(g) (3 marks): Suggest how ‘a brew of growth factors and other proteins’ can stimulate induced pluripotent stem cells to produce a functioning tissue (paragraph 33). (3)
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q2(a) (2 marks): Explain why the cells in the morula are genetically identical. (2)
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q2(b)(i) (1 mark): Name structure A. (1)
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q2(b)(ii) (2 marks): Stem cells can be used as a medical treatment when a patient has had a severe heart attack. A severe heart attack can cause the death of heart muscle cells. The
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q7(c) (5 marks): Explain why beta cells can produce insulin but other cells in the pancreas do not. (5)
- June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q7(d) (3 marks): After fertilisation, the egg cell divides by mitosis to form a blastocyst. During this process, totipotent cells become pluripotent. Describe how a totipotent s
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