Select a year to see courses
Want to see how you went in the 2024 Biology VCE exam? Read on for the 2024 VCE Biology exam answers!
Join 75,893 students who already have a head start.
"*" indicates required fields
The Matrix Biology team is thrilled to publish the 2024 VCE Biology Exam Solutions. These are the responses for the 2024 VCE Biology exam.
Keep in mind that these answers were not written under exam conditions and may be longer than required.
| Question | Answer | Solution |
| 1 | A | Amino acids are the monomers that make up the polypeptide chains of the protein shown. |
| 2 | D | Ribose sugar is found in the backbone of RNA, mRNA is read by ribosomes to synthesise proteins. |
| 3 | B | Attenuation causes transcription to stop at the leader section before the structural genes. |
| 4 | D | Eukaryote genes have a promoter, exons, introns and a terminator. Only prokaryotes have an operator. |
| 5 | A | Each spacer in the array is a segment of virus DNA. The PAM sequence is only found in the virus DNA it is not added to the CRISPR array. |
| 6 | B | The function of CRISPR-Cas9 in bacteria is to defend against viral infection. |
| 7 | A | Genetic modification involves directly changing the genes in an organism, including adding in new genes, as has happened here. |
| 8 | B | The Krebs cycle occurs in the matrix of the mitochondrion. |
| 9 | A | The electron transport chain occurs in the inner mitochondrial membrane and produces the most ATP. The Krebs cycle and glycolysis (which occur in the mitochondrial matrix and cytoplasm, respectively) produce small amounts of ATP. |
| 10 | D | The presence of lactic acid implies the occurrence of anaerobic respiration, which occurs when oxygen levels are insufficient. |
| 11 | C | ATP is the major product of the electron transport chain, NADH is converted to NAD + once it has donated the electrons and hydrogen ion. Oxygen is converted to water when it accepts the hydrogen ions. |
| 12 | D | Only white light shows a relative increase in cell density each time a measurement was taken. |
| 13 | C | Light intensity is a controlled variable and should be consistent between the treatment groups to ensure only light colour is affecting cell density. |
| 14 | A | This question is describing the light dependent reaction of photosynthesis, which occurs in the grana. |
| 15 | C | Access to carbon dioxide will decrease as temperature increases, due to the lower solubility of carbon dioxide, thus Rubisco will have less access to carbon and fix it at a lower rate. |
| 16 | D | Cellulose is composed of glucose which can be converted to ethanol by microorganisms in an anaerobic environment. |
| 17 | C | Histamine is released by mast cells causing vasodilation which increases the amount of blood flow to the area, producing heat and swelling. |
| 18 | A | The investigation did not involve manipulation of the study participants, but did involve collecting data directly, thus making it a correlational study with primary data. While personal data on individuals was gathered, it was not detailed enough to identify individuals. |
| 19 | A | Complement proteins have many functions; one is to attract phagocytes to an infection site. They need to encounter an antigen before they are activated. |
| 20 | B | Neutrophils secrete cytotoxic lysozyme enzymes and chemicals, but dendritic cells do not. Both act as phagocytes. |
| 21 | A | The lymphatic system can store lymphocytes and then transport them to the appropriate location when an infection occurs. |
| 22 | C | Passive immunity occurs when antibodies are transferred into an individual from another source, in this case, a mother may provide passive immunity to her foetus via the placenta. |
| 23 | D | Measurement of mass will provide numerical, or quantitative, data. It is also primary data as the students have measured it directly. |
| 24 | D | Reproducibility describes whether similar results are reached under different conditions. |
| 25 | C | Antigen-presenting cells present their antigens to helper T cells. |
| 26 | B | Helper T cells activate cytotoxic/killer T cells using cytokines. The killer T cell will then trigger cell death (apoptosis) of cells that display a specific foreign antigen on its MHC I. |
| 27 | D | Antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells typically must migrate to the lymph node to find a helper T cell. |
| 28 | A | The scientists directly manipulated which mice were able to produce the next generation, and they measured tibia length. |
| 29 | B | The random replacement of mice may have resulted in mice with relatively longer or shorter legs. |
| 30 | D | As humans have been controlling which individuals get to mate and produce offspring, this is an example of selective breeding. |
| 31 | C | The jawless fishes evolved over 485 million years ago. |
| 32 | D | Only relative dating can give a specific age estimate for a fossil. Carbon-14 can only date something up to 60, 000 years old. |
| 33 | B | Influenza C can infect humans, if antigenic drift occurs in influenza C this would be a new strain that is not recognised by the immune system even if there was previous influenza C infection. |
| 34 | B | The pelvis is vestigial as it has no function in the modern dolphin but served a purpose in its ancestor. |
| 35 | B | The lack of a tail indicates it must be at least a hominoid, but the arboreal lifestyle and small size mean it cannot be a hominin. |
| 36 | A | Bilbies and numbats diverged (share a common ancestor) more recently than opossums and bandicoots, and so have had less time to evolve differences in their DNA. |
| 37 | A | Modern Homo species have relatively longer legs and shorter arms than their ancestors, they also have a well-developed thumb for grasping and fine manipulation. |
| 38 | C | The dating of the fossil remains suggests that Homo naledi lived just before the evolution of Homo sapiens. |
| 39 | C | Precision is a measure of how consistently the same results are obtained each time. Accuracy is determined by how closely the collected data matches with the known, “true”, value. |
| 40 | A | Bacterial growth (indicated by shading) was not inhibited by antibiotic Q, suggesting the bacteria are resistant to it. |
Download your free VCE Subject Scaling Guide
Discover expert VCE scaling tips and strategies
to boost your score!
W.
The Golgi apparatus accepts proteins transported from the rough ER. It can modify proteins and be a site of short-term storage. It then transports proteins by placing them into transport vesicles for exocytosis or use within the cell. Transport sorting and modification of lipids is also managed by the Golgi apparatus.
tRNA that have anticodons that are complimentary to the codons on the mRNA deliver a specific amino acid to the ribosome, so that the ribosome may add the amino acid to the growing polypeptide chain.
Enzymes such as proteases break down proteins by lowering the activation energy required to break the peptide bonds that join the amino acids together.
Lipid vesicles containing the protein of interest fuse with the cell membrane, releasing the protein into the interstitial fluid surrounding the cell.
Like many scientific models, the model of protein synthesis is oversimplified. A solution to this would be to include more details such as the role of rRNA in translation or the role of microRNAs in regulating genes at the transcription stage.
The proteome is the collection of proteins that are expressed within a cell. Proteins vary greatly in their structure and function and by varying the proteins expressed, cells may be specialised to perform specific roles in the body.
The intestinal epithelial cell is involved in the uptake of nutrients from the small intestine and so can be expected to express proteins that are placed in or on the cell membrane to facilitate uptake of nutrients, such as transport proteins. Expression of specific cytoskeleton proteins likely leads to the creation and maintenance of the microvilli protrusions on the surface of the cell, improving the cell’s uptake of nutrients by increasing surface area.
In contrast, the fat cell is primarily a site of energy storage, and does not require as much specialisation in shape, it most likely expresses proteins that assist in the uptake and release of triglycerides from the cell.
Yeasts produce ethanol during fermentation but will die (and stop consuming glucose) once the ethanol concentration gets to around 13%. Carbon dioxide is also a product of fermentation that builds up and slows down the growth and metabolism of the yeast.
Addition of oxygen would make the production of ethanol less efficient as ethanol is a by-product of anaerobic metabolism in yeast. Yeast will not produce ethanol under aerobic conditions.
A biochemical pathway is a process that uses a series of enzyme-catalysed steps to produce a final desired product. The product of one enzyme reaction becomes the substrate for the next. Photosynthesis involves many steps, that use a variety of enzymes, such as RuBisCo, taking water and carbon dioxide to ultimately produce the desired glucose molecule, which may be used as a source of chemical energy or a structural building block.
The C4 plant consistently fixed carbon dioxide at a higher rate than the C3 plant regardless of the light intensity. Since the C3 and C4 plants are growing next to each other, they should have the same controlled variables such as soil type, soil moisture, air moisture and temperature. Any difference in carbon fixation rates between them is likely due to the fact that photosynthesis in C4 plants is more efficient than C3.
CO2 fixation increases with light intensity initially as light reaches more and more of the chlorophyll pigment, producing the substances needed for the light-independent reaction. The rate will plateau once there is some other factor that is limited such as water, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration or chlorophyll.
Photorespiration can occur in C3 plants in hot conditions where stomata are forced to close to conserve water, resulting in an accumulation of O 2 which will interact with RuBisCo instead of CO2, causing photorespiration. C4 plants avoid this by performing the Calvin cycle inside their bundle sheath cells where O 2 is much lower and CO2 is introduced into the bundle sheath by first being converted into an intermediate such as malate.
| Total chlorophyll | Total nitrogen | |
| Control | 1 | 0.2 |
| Transformed | 1.5 | 0.5 |
The increase in chlorophyll may result in a higher rate of photosynthesis, increasing glucose production. As glucose is used as a source of energy and a structural building block, the plants may grow more quickly.
In order for the gene editing to occur, the CRISPR-Cas9 machinery must enter the cells and successfully perform the edits. Neither of these steps succeeds all the time and if either of them fail, it will result in seeds that are not transformed.
Hv1-C. The endonuclease has been unable to cut the DNA in the transformed plants, resulting in a longer DNA strand that moves more slowly through the gel.
DNA is negatively charged, so DNA fragments are attracted to the positive electrode at the opposite end of the gel. The fragments slowly move through the gel, but the shorter fragments meet less resistance and move faster through the gel, while longer fragments move more slowly. This separates out the DNA fragments by size.
The variable region of an antibody includes the part that binds to an antigen. Since trastuzumab and pertuzumab bind to different parts of the HER2 receptor, the structure of their variable regions will be different.
Monoclonal antibodies bind to cancer cells and flag them for destruction by macrophages, killer T cells and natural killer cells. Medicine such as radioactive isotopes can be attached to them so the harmful medicine is only delivered to the cancer cells and not to other body cells.
The change in measles cases from 1994 is most likely due to the Measles Mumps Rubella vaccination campaign. Vaccines introduce the antigen of a pathogen into the body, triggering the production of antibodies and memory cells that can respond to the pathogen when it is encountered and prevent illness.
Ensuring the majority of people are vaccinated and protected by artificially acquired active immunity, produces herd immunity – reducing the chance that a non-vaccinated person will come in contact with an infectious person. This dramatically reduces the number of cases in the population.
The individuals may have been exposed to measles when travelling overseas in a country where measles is still common. By sharing the locations where they have visited, others who were in physical proximity may be alerted to the need to isolate themselves and monitor the development of their own symptoms. Isolating themselves will reduce the chance of transmission to others. Monitoring for symptoms means they can get medical treatment as soon as possible.
| Factor | Description |
| Zoonosis | New disease can emerge when a pathogen is transmitted from an animal to a human for the first time. |
| Antigenic shift | Random mutation in the DNA/RNA of a virus changes the structure of the antigens on its surface. As a result, the immune system cannot recognise it and treats it as a new disease. |
Fieldwork – quantitative observations and sampling to determine correlation.
There were morphological differences in the thickness of the leaves. There were significant genetic differences between the two groups.
Sympatric speciation – there is no geographical separation.
At some point, a mutation has occurred in the ancestor of the plants in Image B that allowed it to grow in soils with high phosphorus levels that other plants could not grow in. This gave it an advantage in these soils allowing it to thrive.
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient so the additional nutrients may have led to earlier flowering in the individuals growing in the high phosphorus soil, resulting in temporal reproductive isolation between the plants in the two different soil types.
As the seeds fall directly beneath the canopy there is a low level of dispersal of seeds, making it likely that offspring of parents from a particular soil type will germinate in the same type of soil. As such, little interbreeding would occur between the two plant populations, allowing different mutations to accumulate between the two, leading to genetic differences between them.
To act as a control group/out group or to have data on the genetic diversity found within an unrelated group.
Indigenous Australian communities were invited to take part in the research, which means that they would not have been involved in the research if they had not consented, thus upholding the ethical principle of respect. This is in consideration of the capacity of living things to make their own decisions.
| Conclusion | Data | Explanation |
| Communities have highly diverse DNA sequences | 46% DNA sequence variation within individuals from the same communities | There is a fair level of DNA variation between individuals from the same community |
| There are different DNA sequence variations across communities | 2.8% DNA similarity between the four communities | DNA similarity between communities is very low, indicating variations across communities |
This study contributes to our understanding of typical rates of change of DNA between human populations. By combining the information of when these communities diverged with each other with the genetic differences between them, typical rates of genomic change in humans can be determined, advancing our understanding of human genomic diversity.
Individuals who received additional information gave higher scores indicating a higher likelihood of vaccination (average of 3 for group B and 3.5 for group C) than individuals who did not receive additional information (average of 2.5 for group A).
This suggests that providing information on the specific benefits of vaccination
makes arguments for vaccination more persuasive. Additionally, a description of
benefits to the community appears to be more persuasive than a description of
individual benefits.
The students could recommend a strategy that focuses on public information campaigns explaining the overall community health benefits of vaccination.
Vaccinations could be made free and easily accessible, for example, vaccinations could be offered at pharmacies rather than just at doctor’s offices.
Randomisation helps to prevent biases that may exist within certain groups. For example, younger students may be more likely to respond negatively to the idea of vaccination than older students who will be more mature. By distributing younger and older students randomly throughout the three groups, age will not bias the results.
The validity of the study could be improved by increasing the number of participants and ensuring that the participants were sampled from a wide range of people. Recruiting through the school newsletter and social media may only sample a certain subset of people with similar ages and backgrounds.
Download your free VCE Subject Scaling Guide
Discover expert VCE scaling tips and strategies
to boost your score!
Written by Matrix Education
Matrix is Sydney's No.1 High School Tuition provider. Come read our blog regularly for study hacks, subject breakdowns, and all the other academic insights you need.
© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
