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Potential Bio Experiments that we could expect
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Elisa.
Edit: that was supposed to be all caps but my phone didn't like that. ELISA is mentioned often in TPR passages.
Edit: that was supposed to be all caps but my phone didn't like that. ELISA is mentioned often in TPR passages.
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Agreed. Famous experimental paradigms (like nobel worthy) experiments are probable. But generally they'll be presented as simplified versions, so I'd say look into studying them if you have some "free" study time.
Expect the unexpected. The field of possibilities is too vast to realistically expect to guess what is going to be on your test. The BS section wants to test your ability to analyze new info based on basic biology principles. Stop fighting this people! You can't study for the MCAT like you do your college exams.
Now, reading about classic experiments probably will improve your ability to analyze similar material, so it can't hurt. But you'd probably be better off just doing more passages.
Now, reading about classic experiments probably will improve your ability to analyze similar material, so it can't hurt. But you'd probably be better off just doing more passages.
I agree. I can't remember exactly, but honestly I don't recall ever seeing any of the above experiments on my AAMC practices or the real test. The concepts, yes, but I feel like you'd never see something as straightforward as one experiment on a passage- normally the passages have multiple different topics all wound together and thus it would be impossible to choose on experiment like "PCR". Maybe they would show one data set relevant to it but that's all I can think of...
I guess these bio topics might help for the stand alone questions but I don't remember the real exam having such "classic" experiments. They seemed way more experimental - more similar to the Official Guide's passages.
Agree with this completely. My test had a few experiment passages which incorporated multiple techniques in each but I can't even recall which ones since the majority of questions were concerned with experiment results, graphs and hypothetical scenarios in which a variable was manipulated or something.
I think it's a really good idea to at least be familiar with the basic lab techniques as familiarity will help you to feel more comfortable if various lab protocols and terminology does appear on your test; however, I wouldn't invest too much time into this. Not saying to entirely neglect the lab techniques, but don't focus so much on it that you sacrifice valuable time studying things you are expected to know cold and can almost guarantee will appear in multiple test questions or as an entire passage topic.
That being said, here's a few extremely concise, helpful animated tutorial links on basic lab protocols and classic experiments. I used a couple of these myself to get a quick grasp of the basics for which I didn't have experience with in my research lab. Definitely not necessary to spend much time or look at all of these, but just for those who are really struggling with the techniques and experiments. I really hope these help. Here they are:
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp11/1102001.html
*^ Meselson-Stahl ^*
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp16/1602001.html
*^Gel Electrophoresis ^*
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp17/1702001.html
*^DNA Testing by Allele-Specific Cleavage ^*
http://content.bfwpub.com/webroot_p...ogy 7e/Classic Experiments/2163T_web_04-2.pdf
*^ Reverse Transcriptase ^*
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/lodish7e/#800911__811720__
^^^ Just go thru a few of the more common ones on here ^^^
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/lodish6e/p...00|21000|22000|23000|24000|25000|99000|&ns=19
*^ SDS Gel Electrophoresis ^*
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/lodish6e/p...000|21000|22000|23000|24000|25000|99000|&ns=0
*^ Immunoblotting ^*
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/lodish6e/p...000|21000|22000|23000|24000|25000|99000|&ns=0
*^ Fractioning and Culturing Cells *^
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/lodish6e/p...00|20000|21000|22000|23000|24000|25000|99000|
*^ Molecular Genetic Techniques (links on the left panel) ^*
If you find these really helpful and would like additional links or any advice and guidance in general, feel free to PM me as I bookmarked a few other tutorials that I thought would be nice to look at if I happened to have some extra study time (not looking like it's going to happen though, thanks to persistent VR struggles, which is why I'm retaking.) Good luck!
ur honestly all wasting your time if you think studying this will help on the exam. just use the aamc bio topic list and you'll be fine.
I agree that this is not something one should invest a lot of time into reviewing. However, much of one's performance on the test comes right down to confidence and the ability to remain calm and reason through questions on challenging, unfamiliar experiments in the BS section.
Although it's extremely unlikely you'll see a question that directly asks you what PCR is, it IS very likely that you'll at least feel more comfortable if that term were to appear in the text of a very tough experiment passage and you had a slight clue of its primary purpose.
It's inevitable that the experiment passages will be based on an experiment you've never seen or heard of before; that's something that's out of your control. But for such passages, if you are able to at least recognize a few familiar terms interspersed in a sea of convoluted, unfamiliar text and data tables, you are far less likely to panic and are much more likely to feel confident in your ability to analyze the data and questions at hand. If you can recognize and understand a just few terms even though they may not be directly tested, your basic familiarity may help you to connect the dots or figure out what the experiment is about, since the main purpose is not always easily identifiable, even more so the case if you have absolutely no understanding of a couple fundamental techniques.
I honestly feel that's why some people struggle with interpreting the experiments; it's a pretty tough task to think critically and accurately about a complex scenario or hypothetical outcome of an experiment if you don't even have an understanding of the basics in the scientific experiment to begin with.
What's biology again?
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Did anybody actually go through a REAL AAMC MCAT practice test? You think any of the "experiments" listed in this thread will actually show up? LOL, the MCAT Biology "experimental" passages are derived from real research journals (they even include their source for the experiments, you would know that if you actually checked out an actual AAMC practice test).
Studying a list of biology experiments is simply an absolute waste of time. You should familiarize yourself with analyzing research articles and its data and be able to relate it to their conclusion and main idea.
Everything you need to know about the experiment itself will be mentioned in the passage. Use that and basic knowledge of biology as outlined from the AAMC website. So basically your best means of prep is tons of practice and being well verse in interpreting research articles (Data, diagrams, and discussion section).
Studying a list of biology experiments is simply an absolute waste of time. You should familiarize yourself with analyzing research articles and its data and be able to relate it to their conclusion and main idea.
Everything you need to know about the experiment itself will be mentioned in the passage. Use that and basic knowledge of biology as outlined from the AAMC website. So basically your best means of prep is tons of practice and being well verse in interpreting research articles (Data, diagrams, and discussion section).
This seems like a good list. There may be more. When I took MCAT the first time, they had some questions similar to stuff on their official AAMC practice material. Can't say more than that. AAMC thanks me for the advertisement.
