Key term
Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0
Key Concepts in Biology
Topic overviewEukaryotic and prokaryotic cellsSpecialised cells and their adaptationsMicroscopes and magnification calculationsSize, scale and units in cell biologyEnzyme action and denaturationFactors affecting enzyme activityEnzymes in synthesis and digestion, and rate calculationsFood tests and the energy in foodDiffusion, osmosis and active transportOsmosis in potatoes and percentage change in mass
Cells and Control
Topic overviewMitosis and the cell cycleWhy mitosis matters: growth, repair and cancerGrowth, differentiation and percentile chartsStem cells and their use in medicineThe structure and function of the brainInvestigating and treating the brainNeurones, receptors and the reflex arcThe structure and function of the eyeEye defects and how they are corrected
Genetics
Topic overviewAsexual and sexual reproductionMeiosis and the formation of gametesDNA structure, genes and the genomeExtracting DNA from fruitProtein synthesis: transcription and translationGenetic variants in coding and non-coding DNAMendel's work and the inheritance of blood groupsAlleles, genotype and phenotypeMonohybrid crosses and sex determinationProbability and ratios from genetic crossesSex-linked disordersCauses of variation: genes and environmentThe Human Genome ProjectGenetic variation and the effects of mutation
Natural Selection and Genetic Modification
Topic overviewDarwin, Wallace and the theory of evolutionNatural selection and antibiotic resistanceFossil evidence for human evolutionStone tool evidence for human evolutionThe pentadactyl limb and the three domainsSelective breedingTissue cultureGenetic engineering and modern agricultureThe stages of genetic engineeringBenefits and risks of GM organisms
Health, Disease and the Development of Medicines
Topic overviewHealth, disease and susceptibilityPathogens and common infectionsHow pathogens spread, and the virus life cycleSexually transmitted infectionsHow plants defend themselves and how plant disease is detectedPhysical barriers and chemical defencesThe immune system, immunisation and herd immunityAntibiotics and developing new medicinesAseptic technique in culturing microorganismsTesting antiseptics and antibiotics on bacterial culturesMonoclonal antibodiesLifestyle factors and non-communicable diseaseTreatments for cardiovascular disease
Plant Structures and Their Functions
Topic overviewPhotosynthesis as an endothermic reactionLimiting factors in photosynthesisLight intensity and the rate of photosynthesisRoot hair cells, xylem and phloemTranspiration and translocationLeaf structure for photosynthesis and gas exchangeFactors affecting the rate of transpirationPlant adaptations to extreme environmentsPlant hormones and their commercial uses
Animal Coordination, Control and Homeostasis
Topic overviewHormones, endocrine glands and homeostasisAdrenalin, thyroxine and negative feedbackThe menstrual cycle and its hormonesHormonal and barrier contraceptionAssisted reproductive technology and IVFHomeostasis and thermoregulationControlling blood glucose, and type 1 diabetesType 2 diabetes and body massThe urinary system and the production of ureaThe nephron, filtration and the effect of ADHTreating kidney failure: dialysis and transplants
Exchange and Transport in Animals
Topic overviewWhy multicellular organisms need exchange surfacesAlveoli and gas exchangeRate of diffusion and Fick's lawThe blood and its componentsArteries, veins and capillariesThe heart and the circulatory systemCellular respiration as an exothermic reactionAerobic and anaerobic respiration comparedInvestigating the rate of respirationCardiac output, stroke volume and heart rate
Ecosystems and Material Cycles
Topic overviewLevels of organisation and interdependenceAbiotic and biotic factors in a communityParasitism and mutualismSampling with quadrats and transectsEstimating population size from field dataEnergy transfer between trophic levelsHuman impact on ecosystems and biodiversityFood securityThe carbon cycleThe water and nitrogen cyclesIndicator species and pollutionFactors affecting the rate of decompositionCalculating the rate of decay
Natural Selection and Genetic Modification
- 10 subtopics
- 30 things to know
- Paper 1
What Natural Selection and Genetic Modification covers
Natural Selection and Genetic Modification is examined in Paper 1, Biology 1. It covers Darwin, Wallace and evolution by natural selection, antibiotic resistance, fossil and stone tool evidence for human evolution, the pentadactyl limb and the three domains of classification, selective breeding, tissue culture, genetic engineering and its stages, and the benefits and risks of GM crops, fertilisers and biological control.
Where it is assessed
Paper 1
Biology 1: 1 hour 45 minutes, 100 marks, 50% of the GCSE.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 10 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Darwin, Wallace and the theory of evolutionDarwin's Beagle observations and On the Origin of Species, Wallace's independent work and warning colouration, why scientists were slow to accept the theory, and why it matters today.Open →
- Natural selection and antibiotic resistanceNatural selection from mutation, competition and survival of the best suited, how an advantageous allele spreads and new species form, why acquired characteristics are not selected, how antibiotic resistance and MRSA arise, finishing antibiotic courses and not prescribing them for viruses, and percentage calculations.Open →
- Fossil evidence for human evolutionThe Ardi, Lucy and Turkana Boy fossils, their ages, species and brain volumes, what their feet, legs and skeletons show about climbing and walking upright, calculating the time between fossils, and the trend in human evolution they reveal.Open →
- Stone tool evidence for human evolutionPebble tools, hand axes, flint points and hafted tools across 2.5 million years, what growing complexity suggests about brain size, and dating tools by rock layers and radiometric methods.Open →
- The pentadactyl limb and the three domainsThe pentadactyl limb, the vertebrate groups that share it and how it is modified in a bat's wing and a whale's flipper, why it is evidence for a shared ancestor, the older five kingdom system, and Carl Woese's three domains of Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya based on genetic analysis.Open →
- Selective breedingHow the individuals showing a characteristic are chosen and bred over generations, the traits sought in crops and livestock, the gain in food production, and the loss of variation.Open →
- Tissue cultureHow a plant is grown from a small sample on a nutrient medium with auxins and cytokinins, why sterile conditions matter, and the uses in breeding, conservation and medical research.Open →
- Genetic engineering and modern agricultureGenetic engineering and why a human gene works in a bacterium, insulin-making bacteria and golden rice, transgenic organisms, its advantages over selective breeding, engineered human insulin, the risks and ethical objections, a risk shared with selective breeding, and labelling and the long-term effects of GM organisms.Open →
- The stages of genetic engineeringRestriction enzymes and sticky ends, why the gene and vector are cut with the same enzyme, ligase, plasmids and viruses as vectors, the stages of inserting a human gene into a bacterium, recombinant plasmids, and why bacteria make useful host cells.Open →
- Benefits and risks of GM organismsCrops given the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene and their advantages, pest resistance and other concerns about GM crops, the cost of GM seed, fertilisers and how run-off kills fish, biological control and its advantages and disadvantages, and calculating the percentage increase in yield.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Describe how stone tools became more complex, what that shows about the makers, and how a tool's age is judged from rock layers.
Process
Describe the main stages in inserting a human gene into a bacterium.
Key term
Which two naturalists independently arrived at the idea that species change over time through natural selection?
Key term
Where does the variation that natural selection acts on originally come from?
Key term
Whose team discovered the fossil skeleton known as Turkana Boy, and where was it found?
Key term
Name the groups of vertebrates whose limbs share the pentadactyl arrangement.
Key term
Give two characteristics that food crops are commonly selectively bred for.
Key term
Explain why a gene taken from a human can still work when it is put into a bacterium.
Key term
Explain how a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis protects a crop plant.
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Wallace also studied warning colouration. Explain how bright warning colours in a poisonous insect can be favoured by natural selection.
Key term
Explain why only some individuals in a population survive long enough to reproduce.
Numbers
Calculate the length of time between the individual known as Ardi and the individual known as Turkana Boy.
Key term
Describe the stone tools being made about 300 000 years ago.
Key term
Give three very different limbs that are all built on the pentadactyl plan.
Key term
Give two characteristics that domesticated animals are commonly selectively bred for.
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Describe how a new plant is produced by tissue culture.
Key term
Give an example of a genetically engineered bacterium and state what it produces.
Key term
Explain why the gene and the vector must be cut with the same restriction enzyme.
Evaluation
Give two advantages of growing insect-resistant crop plants.
Key term
Give one reason why other scientists were slow to accept Darwin's explanation when it was first published.
Evaluation
Explain why an advantageous characteristic becomes more common in a population over time.
Key term
Describe the trend in human ancestors shown by the Ardi, Lucy and Turkana Boy fossils.
Key term
What change in tool making had appeared by about 50 000 years ago?
Key term
Describe how the pentadactyl limb of a bat has been modified compared with that of a human.
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Explain why selective breeding takes many generations to produce a large change.
Key term
Explain why tissue culture must be carried out under sterile conditions.
Key term
Give one example of a genetically engineered crop plant and the characteristic that was added.
Key term
What name is given to a plasmid that has had DNA from another organism joined into it?
Key term
Explain why growing insect-resistant crops may harm other wildlife less than spraying insecticide does.
Take Natural Selection and Genetic Modification further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Selective breeding vs Genetic engineering
Selective breeding: choosing parents showing a desired characteristic and crossing them over many generations. Genetic engineering: inserting a gene from another organism to add a characteristic in one generation.
Ardi vs Lucy
Ardi: 4.4-million-year-old skeleton whose big toe stuck out sideways like a thumb. Lucy: 3.2-million-year-old skeleton with arched feet and human-like hips.
Biological control vs Chemical pesticide
Biological control: introducing a pest's natural predator, parasite or pathogen. Chemical pesticide: sprayed substance that kills the pest but leaves toxic residues.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Which two naturalists independently arrived at the idea that species change over time through natural selection?
Model answer
Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
- 2
What did Darwin observe on his voyage aboard HMS Beagle that helped him develop his theory?
Model answer
He found closely related species, such as the finches on different Galapagos islands, whose features suited the particular food and conditions where they lived.
- 3
Name the book, published in 1859, in which Darwin set out the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Model answer
On the Origin of Species.
- 4
Describe the contribution Alfred Russel Wallace made to the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Model answer
While studying species in the Malay Archipelago he reached the same explanation independently and sent his essay to Darwin, and their work was presented jointly in 1858.
- 5
Wallace also studied warning colouration. Explain how bright warning colours in a poisonous insect can be favoured by natural selection.
Model answer
Predators learn to avoid the brightest individuals, so those insects are least likely to be eaten and pass their alleles to more offspring.
- 6
Give one reason why other scientists were slow to accept Darwin's explanation when it was first published.
Model answer
Genes and mutations were not yet known, so Darwin could not say how the useful variations arose or how they were passed on.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Natural Selection and Genetic Modification revision questions
- What does Natural Selection and Genetic Modification cover in Edexcel GCSE Biology?
- 10 subtopics: darwin, wallace and the theory of evolution, natural selection and antibiotic resistance, fossil evidence for human evolution, stone tool evidence for human evolution, the pentadactyl limb and the three domains, selective breeding, tissue culture, genetic engineering and modern agriculture, the stages of genetic engineering and benefits and risks of gm organisms. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Natural Selection and Genetic Modification organised?
- By the Edexcel 1BI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Natural Selection and Genetic Modification, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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