Question

FRANCISCa AL EXAMİN Biologist Journal #13: A Mysterious Death MEDICALN You're working at the medical examiner's office at San Francisco County Hospital. It has been a particularly light day with only one homicide and a dead chipmunk that you checked over for rabies. The chipmunk didn't have rabies, and you're ready to go home. Just as you're flipping the switch, you get a call from your secretary. "Francesca," he says. "We've got a dead kid up here that you'll want to look at right away. Might be foul play. Thinking of your four-year old daughter at home, you grimace. "OK, John, I'm heading to the morgue." Performing autopsies on kids is the least favorite part of your job. But you are paid to solve medical mysteries, and it looks like you've got one here... In the morgue, you find the report from the hospital. Glancing over it, you notice a narrative of the girl's last hours and read it carefully: At 10 am, mother returns from the store to find girl vomiting. Not feeling well, and sleepy. Mother put girl to bed. Ten minutes later, she noticed that the child's breathing was irregular and slow. She tried to wake her daughter, but was not able to do so. The child became comatose. At noon, the girl was admitted to the hospital, with no heartbeat or spontaneous breathing. After collecting the samples you need from the body, you send them off to the clinical laboratory scientists for analysis. A week later you get the report below back.. The girl died within two hours of first vomiting. . Tissues sections from lung, heart, &e kidneys show massive cell death. . Staining with cellular dyes indicates that the mitochondria within the affected tissues were damaged. More detailed analysis of heart cells showed that ATP levels were reduced in the mitochondria. ATP levels in the cytoplasm of these cells, however, were normal, . In addition, Acetyl-CoA molecule levels were normal. Using a new chromatographic technology developed last year, the lab was able to determine levels of various sub-cellular components in the heart cells. Highlights from that report are listed below: Metabolite Glucose Pyruvate NAD+ NADH Autopsy Finding 102 umol 23 umol Normal Levels 100 pmol 26 umol 75 μmol 50 umol 383 umol Your Task... You suspect that the girl may have somehow been poisoned and ingested a chemical called: Cyanide Go and research the chemical named on your strip. Seek out information about: Cyani Cyanide 1) its effects on the four processes of cellular respiration, 2) whether this chemical would likely produce the autopsy report results described above, and 3) how a young person might come into contact with such a chemical. Write and submit on iLearn a 2400 word argument that either asserts or refutes the idea that this chemical could be responsible for the mysterious death of the little girl using what you found in researching the three issues above. Your argument should include at least three pieces of EVIDENCE as to why you believe the chemical IS or IS NOT responsible for this mysterious death. Provide at least three credible sources where you got your EVIDENCE

Answer 1

Answers-

1. Cyanide disrupts the electron transport chain by binding to the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase. Cyanide mainly inhibits the electron transport chain from progressing. This vital processes in cellular respiration lead to lack of ATP production and shut down the cell altogether, leading to cell death.

2. Yes, the chemical will produce a similar report described.

3.  Cyanide poisoning in children is also related to ingestion of cyanogenic foods. for eg-

• a fatal cyanide poisoning case presented with sudden onset vomiting leading to unconsciousness and metabolic acidosis caused by apricot seed ingestion.