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Natural Science Forum / Biology / Biology / September 2004endoplasmic reticulum function
I'm looking for a little advice on a biology question. I'm taking this open book biology quiz and one of the questions posed is: "Using the shortest answer possible, describe the function of the endoplasmic reticulum." Now my biology book has about two full pages describing the function(s) of the ER, but this is what I narrowed it down to: "synthesizes enzymes and provides for cellular metabolic function" Now, trying to cram two pages of text into that wasn't easy, and I may have missed the point completely. I'm wondering if people here think this answer would suffice, or am I way off? Thanks, Rob >I'm looking for a little advice on a biology question. I'm taking >this open book biology quiz and one of the questions posed is: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >have missed the point completely. I'm wondering if people here think >this answer would suffice, or am I way off? Try googling on "endoplasmic reticulum". The first hit (as is common with Google) is an excellent resource. The first sentence describes its structure, the second sentence its function. It is a long sentence because the ER has many functions. However, the major one and usually the only one described in beginning biology classes is the one related to protein synthesis. That role is described in the first sentence in the second paragraph. Basically, the short answer: The most important function of the endoplasmic reticulum is: to hold or support the ribosomes in protein synthesis. Your answer is far too vague and doesn't indicate that you know much real biology. The phrase "to synthesize enzymes" is not really true. The rough ER is involved in synthesizing all the proteins in a cell, not just the enzymes. Further, it isn't the ER that does the synthesis, it is the ribosomes and mRNA. The ER provides a structure on which all that can happen. The phrase "provides for cellular metabolic function" is, frankly, just general BS, the kind of thing I see on student papers when they really don't know the answer. It doesn't say anything. Besides, the ER really is not involved in the chemical reactions of intermediary metabolism. When asked for short answers, you must pick the most important (or at least one of the more important) parts of a complex answer and give specific details to show you know your stuff. So an answer like "rough endoplasmic reticulum synthesizes proteins" demonstrates that you know that there are several kinds of ER, that you know the specific name of one of them (and therefore presumably know that the "roughness" is caused by ribosomes) and that you know exactly what that one type of ER does. >>I'm looking for a little advice on a biology question. I'm taking >>this open book biology quiz and one of the questions posed is: [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >However, the major one and usually the only one described in beginning >biology classes is the one related to protein synthesis. I would hope that a college biology course would do better than that. Certainly the one modern college biol book I have at hand does. >That role is >described in the first sentence in the second paragraph. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >The most important function of the endoplasmic reticulum is: > to hold or support the ribosomes in protein synthesis. hm. >Your answer is far too vague and doesn't indicate that you know much >real biology. The phrase "to synthesize enzymes" is not really true. >The rough ER is involved in synthesizing all the proteins in a cell, >not just the enzymes. No, that is incorrect. It is involved with synthesizing only the proteins that have ER-targeting signal sequences (loosely, those for export). It is not involved for what we might refer to as metabolic enzymes. >Further, it isn't the ER that does the >synthesis, it is the ribosomes and mRNA. correct >The ER provides a structure >on which all that can happen. All the ER does in such protein synthesis is to receive proteins that have signal sequences targeting them to the ER. In general, protein synthesis does not require a membrane. I have already emailed the OP a "hint" on this. The point raised here by rsn (with whose posts I generally agree) is a useful point, but very limited. I would be surprised if the OP's book spent 2 pages on the ER without saying anything beyond its role in protein synthesis. I do not know specifically what info the OP has there, but I would aim him to the broader idea, think of the ER + Golgi together, as part of ... My concern here is that the OP might take rsn's brief answer as his own, rather than find out what he is expected to know from his own book/class. I suspect rsn's answer above might yield a zero here, but the OP needs to figure that out. >The phrase "provides for cellular metabolic function" is, frankly, >just general BS, the kind of thing I see on student papers when they >really don't know the answer. It doesn't say anything. Besides, the >ER really is not involved in the chemical reactions of intermediary >metabolism. agreed >When asked for short answers, you must pick the most important (or at >least one of the more important) parts of a complex answer and give [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >"roughness" is caused by ribosomes) and that you know exactly what >that one type of ER does. agreed bob >>>I'm looking for a little advice on a biology question. I'm taking >>>this open book biology quiz and one of the questions posed is: [quoted text clipped - 86 lines] > >bob I agree completely with bob, including his criticisms of my answer. I assumed you must be in a rather elementary type course -- or at least your knowledge of the material (based on your summary of the two pages) is rather elementary. In that case, the more elaborate detail in Bob's question and his corrections of my answer probably doesn't mean much to you. A very important point: if you take my second answer and simply copy it into your open book quiz, you may get a reasonable score on that question, but you will still flunk all the others. If you learn from this what it means to answer a question properly, then you may do fine. What you really must evaluate is what "the shortest answer possible" really means. I too quickly assumed it meant just a few words. Now I realize it probably just means "don't go on and on for two pages just parroting what the text says -- pick the few most important points and rephrase them in your own concise way". >Your answer is far too vague and doesn't indicate that you know much >real biology. > >The phrase "provides for cellular metabolic function" is, frankly, >just general BS, Geez, sorry I'm not up to your class standards. This isn't a graduate bio course, it's one of the first ones I've taken in about a decade and it's the first week of class. I'm not trying to dazzle anyone with BS, I'm simply trying to take a huge amount of text talking about the functions of the ER and compress it into one sentence. I do appreciate your advice on looking for more info on Google. I tried that once and frankly found the results as confusing as my text. I guess what I was looking for was once sentence that said, "The function of the endoplasmic reticulum is..." Unfortunately, what I've found that comes after that sentence is usually 3-4 paragraphs long. I'll try to look some more into it along the lines of what you suggested. I'll try to do better next time, professor, honest! :P >>Your answer is far too vague and doesn't indicate that you know much >>real biology. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >I'll try to look some more into it along the lines of what you >suggested. I'll try to do better next time, professor, honest! :P I'm sorry to have been so harsh, but it's for your own good! ;-) The important thing is to heed my advice on what constitutes a good answer -- it must capture the most important idea asked in the question (that shows you know the general issues involved) and it must include some very specific detail (that indicates you know the specifics). |
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