KBIT-2 case studies
KBIT-2 · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Kangaroo Biology International Test Level 2 (KBIT-2) is a multiple-choice biology competition-style assessment aimed at secondary-school students who have already mastered introductory biology and want to test themselves against a broader, more reasoning-heavy syllabus. It suits strong learners preparing for university entrance in the life sciences, teachers looking for an external benchmark for gifted students, and anyone who enjoys olympiad-flavoured problems. The paper spans nine domains: cell biology and biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, anatomy and physiology, ecology and environmental biology, evolution and biodiversity, plant biology, microbiology and immunology, animal behaviour and neurobiology, and scientific reasoning and data analysis. Questions reward interpretation of data, experimental design and quantitative reasoning rather than recall alone, so preparation should combine a solid textbook base with practice on unfamiliar scenarios, graph reading and multi-step calculations. The KBIT-2 case studies are 5 cases and about 4,260 words.
1Respirometry on permeabilized cells: is the new compound an uncoupler?
An investigator measures oxygen consumption in digitonin-permeabilized HEK293 cells at 37 °C with pyruvate plus malate as substrates. Rates are expressed as pmol O₂·s⁻¹ per 10⁶ cells and are means of triplicate wells.
924 words, about 5 min2Trio exome with two candidate variants: which one is causal?
A 4-year-old boy has infantile-onset seizures, burst-suppression on EEG and global developmental delay. His parents are unaffected and unrelated.
885 words, about 4 min3Three patients, one night, hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis
Three patients are admitted on the same night with hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis. All have normal serum creatinine, and no diuretic is detected on the admission urine screen.
787 words, about 4 min4Enclosure experiment on a eutrophic lake: additive or synergistic?
A shallow lake (mean depth 1.8 m) has had cyanobacterial blooms for a decade. Managers run a 12-week summer enclosure experiment: 12 enclosures of 2 m diameter, open to the sediment, three replicates per treatment in a 2 × 2 design.
870 words, about 4 min5Mumps outbreak in a closed college community: vaccine effectiveness and a third dose
A residential college with 1,240 students has a mumps outbreak over 11 weeks. Of the students, 1,090 have documented two MMR doses and 150 have none or one.
794 words, about 4 min