This is more of a question about MCAT question format than content. This was a question in EK (paraphrased)
A nude mouse lacks a thymus and can't form antibodies. It is injected with healthy lymphocytes from a donor mouse. It's then exposed to an antigen. Antibodies are produced. Lymphocytes are then removed from the spleen of the host and the host cells or donor cells were selectively destroyed from different samples. It was found that host cells samples can still produce antibodies while donor cell samples can't.
The experiment demonstrated that:
a) antibodies are produced by T cells
b) antibodies are produced by B cells only after exposure to T cells
c) nude mice are unable to produce antibodies
d) nude mice are unable to produce T cells
The answer is B, which is not a true statement since B cells are able to produce antibodies independently under some conditions (wiki even lists nude mice as an example of an organism found to undergo T cell independent B cell activation, and this isn't crazy obscure knowledge). A is obviously a wrong statement as is C, so I chose D which is technically the only true statement listed. Should a false statement be chosen under these circumstances, or does the question just suck?
A nude mouse lacks a thymus and can't form antibodies. It is injected with healthy lymphocytes from a donor mouse. It's then exposed to an antigen. Antibodies are produced. Lymphocytes are then removed from the spleen of the host and the host cells or donor cells were selectively destroyed from different samples. It was found that host cells samples can still produce antibodies while donor cell samples can't.
The experiment demonstrated that:
a) antibodies are produced by T cells
b) antibodies are produced by B cells only after exposure to T cells
c) nude mice are unable to produce antibodies
d) nude mice are unable to produce T cells
The answer is B, which is not a true statement since B cells are able to produce antibodies independently under some conditions (wiki even lists nude mice as an example of an organism found to undergo T cell independent B cell activation, and this isn't crazy obscure knowledge). A is obviously a wrong statement as is C, so I chose D which is technically the only true statement listed. Should a false statement be chosen under these circumstances, or does the question just suck?
