MCAT: Biological Experimental Passages

[remedy23]

Hi guys,

What is the best way to prepare for the Biological Experimental Passages section? Is the Khan Academy practice passages they provide on experiments?

Is there a summary of important lab techniques we should know? I haven't been exposed to many of these in my undergrad, so I am kind of struggling in this department.

Thanks!

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[OrdinaryDO]

Everything you just asked can probably be found on the font 2 pages of this forum if you'd rather do that. Know all of the lab techniques. There is a list of what you need to know on the AAMC website.

 

[El-Rami]

I'll give you a few just to give you an idea:

2-phase extraction
Sublimation for purification purposes
TLC
HPLC
Mass Spectrometry
Gas Chromatography
Ion-Exchange Chromatography
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NMR
UV-Vis

There's a long list, but you need to know them. You basically need to understand the lab techniques of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology. There's a high degree of overlap, though, as many of these techniques are used in all of these disciplines.

 

[OrdinaryDO]

I'll give you a few just to give you an idea:

2-phase extraction
Sublimation for purification purposes
TLC
HPLC
Mass Spectrometry
Gas Chromatography
Ion-Exchange Chromatography
Size-Exclusion "" ""
Affinity "" ""
NMR
UV-Vis

There's a long list, but you need to know them. You basically need to understand the lab techniques of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology. There's a high degree of overlap, though, as many of these techniques are used in all of these disciplines.

SDS-PAGE, GE, PCR, Restriction Enzyme, Western Blot, etc.

 

[remedy23]

I'll be sure to review those lab techniques, does anyone have advice for tackling actual experimental passages? Is Khan Academy the only relevant source of these types of passages? I have a feeling this is going to be my weakest part of the MCAT, and I know some MCATs have 5 experimental bio passages in one test which makes me nervous.

 

[Neutrophil2016]

If at all possible I would recommend reading some scientific journal articles. Peer review papers are the best way to learn how to interpret data which will be your task on the majority of the exam. Most universities' lab courses expose you to these techniques but reading papers will help you learn to think like a scientist.

 

[Sarahka74]

If at all possible I would recommend reading some scientific journal articles. Peer review papers are the best way to learn how to interpret data which will be your task on the majority of the exam. Most universities' lab courses expose you to these techniques but reading papers will help you learn to think like a scientist.

Are there any you recommend in particular?

 

[Neutrophil2016]

Are there any you recommend in particular?

Find something that you're interested in and search through PubMed or Google Scholar. Here is a fun immuno/microbiology paper with some genetics and biochemistry techniques to get you started. It is pretty short, but if you are new to scientific papers it could be a doozy. If you decide to read it and have any questions just PM me.

 

[Shreyasthegreat]

From the September 2015 MCAT thread...

@geronimo11 @QuentinT88

August Test-taker here, sorry to intrude, just figured I'd be on here after my exam, for better (with advice) or for worse (with advice--on what not to do) so I thought I'd contribute.

A group of people on Reddit have been reading research papers together and have even come up with a bunch of MC per paper. They have done about 20 papers now, and it might be in your advantage to try to answer the multiple choice questions by skimming the research papers.

Here is a link.