In the past, people sometimes put extracts containing rotenone into a river to poison the fish, allowing the fish to be more easily caught - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 10 - 2015 - Paper 1
Question 10
In the past, people sometimes put extracts containing rotenone into a river to poison the fish, allowing the fish to be more easily caught. When rotenone-poisoned fi... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:In the past, people sometimes put extracts containing rotenone into a river to poison the fish, allowing the fish to be more easily caught - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 10 - 2015 - Paper 1
Step 1
Rotenone is not absorbed through the cell membranes of people who have eaten poisoned fish.
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Answer
This statement indicates that rotenone does not penetrate human cell membranes, preventing it from exerting toxic effects. Human cells may have different transport mechanisms that do not allow rotenone access, which explains the lack of poisoning in humans consuming affected fish.
Step 2
Rotenone is not absorbed by fish tissue and remains dissolved in water.
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Answer
This statement suggests that rotenone remains in water rather than entering fish tissues. However, if fish are poisoned, they must absorb rotenone, hence this answer is not plausible.
Step 3
Human cell metabolism does not involve the electron transport chain.
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This statement is incorrect as human cells do rely on the electron transport chain for ATP production. Therefore, this cannot explain the lack of poisoning.
Step 4
Rotenone only affects organisms that respire anaerobically.
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This statement is also inaccurate since rotenone disrupts the electron transport chain, primarily affecting aerobic organisms. Thus, this does not explain the lack of effect in humans.
