MATSEC IM Biology case studies
MATSEC IM Biology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The MATSEC Intermediate Level Biology credential is a secondary-school-leaving and matriculation qualification awarded through the MATSEC Examinations Board of the University of Malta, based at Msida. It is intended for candidates who have completed the two-year intermediate (matriculation) programme in biology and who need the subject for university admission or as part of their advanced-level combination. The MATSEC IM Biology case studies are 5 cases and about 3,080 words.
1The Phosphate Analogue That Was Not Non-Competitive
A final-year student purifies alkaline phosphatase from calf intestine and measures initial rates at 37 °C and pH 9.8 using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate. Rates are nmol product formed per minute per µg protein.
647 words, about 3 min2A Negative Carrier Test in a Family With Cystic Fibrosis
A couple, both aged 29, attend genetic counselling because each has a brother with cystic fibrosis (CF); neither has symptoms. CF is autosomal recessive and caused by variants in CFTR.
640 words, about 3 min3Collapse After the Marathon: Water, Sodium and the Brain
A 28-year-old club runner completes a marathon in 4 h 10 min on a warm, humid day (28 °C, 70% relative humidity). She weighs 58.0 kg before and 59.5 kg after, having drunk about 5 L of plain water and eaten little salty food.
588 words, about 3 min4Two Mark–Recapture Estimates and One Unhappy Funder
A conservation group estimates a population of freshwater turtles in a reservoir. In week 1 they capture 200 turtles, mark each with a small notch in the shell and release them at the capture site.
616 words, about 3 min5Asthma Admissions, PM2.5 and a Proposed Low-Emission Zone
A public health unit compares age-standardised asthma emergency admissions in 2023 across four districts of a Mediterranean island. District A is rural: mean PM2.5 8 µg/m³, NO2 12 ppb, admissions 210 per 100,000.
589 words, about 3 min