MMG 301 Exam #3 questions well
answered 2025/2026
What are the typical sources of specimens - correct answer ✔✔blood, urine, feces, abscesses
and wounds, throat/nasal swabs, genital samples
Be able to state the medical terms for bacteria in the blood and urine - correct answer
✔✔bacteremia or viremia (blood)
bacteriuria (urine)
Know the Biosafety levels for laboratories working with pathogens - correct answer ✔✔BSL-1:
few safety controls, non-pathogenic organisms.
BSL-2: moderate pathogens, lab coat, gloves.
BSL-3: pathogens present, safety cabinets, filtration of air.
BSL-4: deadly pathogens, suits are worn.
Be able to discern the difference between differential and selective media - correct answer
✔✔selective media: inhibits growth of certain types of bacteria (ex. a medium contains an
antibiotic and targets certain bacteria)
differential: includes compounds that allows visualization for certain biochemical pathways and
products (ex. blood agar)
Describe the three common methods used to test sensitivity of a pathogen to an antibiotic -
correct answer ✔✔1. Minimum inhibitory concentration: using two dilution assay. pathogens
are grown in a series of tubes that have different concentrations.
,2. Disk diffusion assay: a pure culture is spread on a plate. shows that the pathogen has zones of
growth.
3. E test: MIC is read from the edge of the clear zone using scale on strips.
Know how the fundamental features of antibodies can be leveraged for diagnostic purposes -
correct answer ✔✔antibodies fundamental job is to combat pathogens. "out of the body".
antibodies are used to identify specific antigens to define different serotypes of the same
pathogen.
??????
Understand that different serotypes of a particular pathogen can have different antigenic
properties and be able to describe specific examples. - correct answer ✔✔ex. E-coli has many
different strains with different names. The different name/number combos designate a specific
strand
(ex. E-coli O157H7 has two antigens, O157 and H7)
??
Define an antibody titer and how it changes during the course of an infectious disease - correct
answer ✔✔An antibody titer is the lowest concentration of serum at which an antibody-antigen
reaction is observed .
There is a decline with time after each immunization. (resolution)
, How is a Mantoux skin test performed and how is it interpreted - correct answer ✔✔common
for testing of previous exposure or current infection with mycobacterium tuberculosis
Define serology - correct answer ✔✔uses antigen-antibody reactions for diagnostic tests. It
often uses serum from a patient and can be used to distinguish pathogen serotypes.
Describe what an epitope is - correct answer ✔✔the part of an antigen molecule to which an
antibody attaches itself. found on glycoproteins and on other molecules.
Understand how agglutination assays are used to detect antibodies or antigens from a patient -
correct answer ✔✔agglutination reactions use antigens that are attached to large particles or
whole cells to produce visible clumping and aggregation.
*does clumping mean = positive?
used with blood.
Understand direct and indirect EIA (enzyme immuno absorbent assays) - correct answer
✔✔Direct: Uses dead antibody to test for the antigen
Indirect: uses the dead antigen to detect for the antibody. This strategy increases the sensitivity
of detection.
Know how PCR can be used to identify pathogen DNA in a patient - correct answer ✔✔PCR is
product is only made if the primers base pair with pathogen DNA.
Briefly describe what qPCR is and how it works - correct answer ✔✔(quantitative real-time
PCR): detects PCR products by fluorescent measurement where the fluorescence probe binds
double stranded DNA and the florescence increases as double stranded DNA product is made.
answered 2025/2026
What are the typical sources of specimens - correct answer ✔✔blood, urine, feces, abscesses
and wounds, throat/nasal swabs, genital samples
Be able to state the medical terms for bacteria in the blood and urine - correct answer
✔✔bacteremia or viremia (blood)
bacteriuria (urine)
Know the Biosafety levels for laboratories working with pathogens - correct answer ✔✔BSL-1:
few safety controls, non-pathogenic organisms.
BSL-2: moderate pathogens, lab coat, gloves.
BSL-3: pathogens present, safety cabinets, filtration of air.
BSL-4: deadly pathogens, suits are worn.
Be able to discern the difference between differential and selective media - correct answer
✔✔selective media: inhibits growth of certain types of bacteria (ex. a medium contains an
antibiotic and targets certain bacteria)
differential: includes compounds that allows visualization for certain biochemical pathways and
products (ex. blood agar)
Describe the three common methods used to test sensitivity of a pathogen to an antibiotic -
correct answer ✔✔1. Minimum inhibitory concentration: using two dilution assay. pathogens
are grown in a series of tubes that have different concentrations.
,2. Disk diffusion assay: a pure culture is spread on a plate. shows that the pathogen has zones of
growth.
3. E test: MIC is read from the edge of the clear zone using scale on strips.
Know how the fundamental features of antibodies can be leveraged for diagnostic purposes -
correct answer ✔✔antibodies fundamental job is to combat pathogens. "out of the body".
antibodies are used to identify specific antigens to define different serotypes of the same
pathogen.
??????
Understand that different serotypes of a particular pathogen can have different antigenic
properties and be able to describe specific examples. - correct answer ✔✔ex. E-coli has many
different strains with different names. The different name/number combos designate a specific
strand
(ex. E-coli O157H7 has two antigens, O157 and H7)
??
Define an antibody titer and how it changes during the course of an infectious disease - correct
answer ✔✔An antibody titer is the lowest concentration of serum at which an antibody-antigen
reaction is observed .
There is a decline with time after each immunization. (resolution)
, How is a Mantoux skin test performed and how is it interpreted - correct answer ✔✔common
for testing of previous exposure or current infection with mycobacterium tuberculosis
Define serology - correct answer ✔✔uses antigen-antibody reactions for diagnostic tests. It
often uses serum from a patient and can be used to distinguish pathogen serotypes.
Describe what an epitope is - correct answer ✔✔the part of an antigen molecule to which an
antibody attaches itself. found on glycoproteins and on other molecules.
Understand how agglutination assays are used to detect antibodies or antigens from a patient -
correct answer ✔✔agglutination reactions use antigens that are attached to large particles or
whole cells to produce visible clumping and aggregation.
*does clumping mean = positive?
used with blood.
Understand direct and indirect EIA (enzyme immuno absorbent assays) - correct answer
✔✔Direct: Uses dead antibody to test for the antigen
Indirect: uses the dead antigen to detect for the antibody. This strategy increases the sensitivity
of detection.
Know how PCR can be used to identify pathogen DNA in a patient - correct answer ✔✔PCR is
product is only made if the primers base pair with pathogen DNA.
Briefly describe what qPCR is and how it works - correct answer ✔✔(quantitative real-time
PCR): detects PCR products by fluorescent measurement where the fluorescence probe binds
double stranded DNA and the florescence increases as double stranded DNA product is made.
