Question 1 Medium
What kind of drug treats the symptoms of a disease but does not kill the pathogen?
Show answer
Answer: painkiller
- It relieves pain.
- It is a painkiller.
Antibiotics, painkillers and drug testing: GCSE Combined Science Biology practice questions
A second set of questions on antibiotics, painkillers and drug testing. They are different from the ones on the topic page. Try each, then open the answer and compare your working.
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Question 2 Medium
In a trial, who is tested first on a new drug after animals: healthy volunteers or patients?
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Answer: healthy volunteers
- The first human tests check safety.
- So healthy volunteers come first.
Question 3 Medium
Name the mould that Alexander Fleming found was killing bacteria on his plates.
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Answer: Penicillium
- The mould gave us penicillin.
- It is Penicillium.
Question 4 Medium
What word means how well a drug works?
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Answer: efficacy
- Safety asks if it is harmful.
- Efficacy asks if it works.
Question 5 Hard
In a double-blind trial, who does not know who has the real drug?
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Answer: both patients and doctors
- Both are kept unaware.
- This removes bias.
Question 6 Hard
Which process makes antibiotic resistance more common in a population? Give the two words.
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Answer: natural selection
- The resistant bacteria survive.
- This is natural selection.
Question 7 Hard
Give one reason why a patient should finish a course of antibiotics.
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Answer: to kill all the bacteria
- If you stop early, some bacteria survive.
- They could become resistant.
Question 8 Hard
Name the term for scientists checking each other’s results before publication.
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Answer: peer review
- Other experts check the work.
- It is peer review.
Quick checks
Short questions with options. Choose one before you open the answer.
Check 1
What do antibiotics do?
Show answer
They kill bacteria or stop them growing.
Check 2
Why do antibiotics not work on viruses?
Show answer
Viruses live inside cells, so it is hard to kill them without harming the cell.
Check 3
What do painkillers do?
Show answer
They relieve symptoms such as pain but do not kill pathogens.
Check 4
What causes antibiotic resistance?
Show answer
A random mutation in a bacterium that lets it survive the antibiotic.
Check 5
What is MRSA?
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A bacterium that is resistant to many antibiotics.
Check 6
How can the spread of resistance be slowed?
Show answer
Use antibiotics only when needed and finish the course.
Check 7
What is digitalis and where is it from?
Show answer
A heart drug from the foxglove plant.
Check 8
What is aspirin and where was it first found?
Show answer
A painkiller first found in willow bark.
Check 9
Who discovered penicillin, and from what?
Show answer
Alexander Fleming, from the mould Penicillium.
Check 10
What is meant by efficacy?
Show answer
How well a drug works.
Check 11
What are the stages of drug testing?
Show answer
Cells and tissues, live animals, then clinical trials on healthy volunteers and patients.
Check 12
Why are healthy volunteers tested first?
Show answer
To check the drug is safe, using a low dose.
Check 13
What is a placebo?
Show answer
A tablet that looks the same as the drug but has no active ingredient.
Check 14
What is a double-blind trial?
Show answer
A trial in which neither patients nor doctors know who gets the drug until the end.
Check 15
Why do trials use a placebo?
Show answer
To show if the drug really works and not because of expectation.
Check 16
What is peer review?
Show answer
Other scientists check the results before they are published.
Check 17
What is a pathogen?
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A microorganism that causes disease.
Check 18
What type of cell are bacteria?
Show answer
Tiny living cells that can cause infections.
Check 19
What is a mutation?
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A change in a gene.
Check 20
What does resistant mean for a bacterium?
Show answer
An antibiotic can no longer kill it.
Check 21
Why should you finish a course of antibiotics?
Show answer
It kills all the bacteria, so fewer resistant ones survive.
Check 22
Which common illness is caused by a virus, so antibiotics do not help?
Show answer
A cold.
Check 23
Why are low doses used in the first human trial?
Show answer
To check that the drug is safe.
Check 24
Why do larger trials give more reliable results?
Show answer
More people means chance has less effect on the results.
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