Part I- The Symptoms

1. Are there any similarities or connections between these seven individuals?

What questions would you want to ask the families to answer these
questions? The victims had taken Tylenol to help relieve a particular ailment,
whether it be infection related or to calm down stress. After taking the
medication, they experienced symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, or
vomiting, and collapsed on the floor within hours of taking the medication. Since
there is medication involved in these cases, I would ask the families of the
amount of dosage the victims had taken to assess whether an overdose
occurred. I would also ask for an ingredient list on the packaging of the last
container used, in order to analyze if any of the ingredients have any known side
effects.
2. In your opinion, are these seven deaths connected? Why or why not? I think
these seven deaths are connected in the fact that all of the victims had taken
Tylenol hours before collapsing. That one detail alone suggests that perhaps the
medication could have been a factor or one of several factors that killed these
individuals.

Part II- Autopsy Report

1. Recalling your knowledge of the function of organelles, what function of
the cells was interrupted in these patients? Could the loss of function lead
to the death of these individuals? Why or why not? The cells ability to diffuse
oxygen was interrupted in these patients. Diffusion is the only way a cells
membrane is able to allow certain gases to pass through and by blocking it, it
severely reduces the amount of gases passing through. The loss of this function
could lead to the death of these individuals. If oxygen is not circulating within the
bodys cells, then the person runs into risk of suffocation, as stated in the autopsy
report.
2. Given the data in the autopsy, were there any reports that seemed
inconsistent with the immediate cause of death? The details describing which
tissues were affected didnt really make much sense. I can understand how the
lung tissue can be damaged, as it is an organ that receives oxygen on a daily
basis. The heart to a certain extent as well since it pumps blood cells, which
carry oxygen. But the kidney and liver tissues, I am confused on. How are their
cells, being specialized, affected by the lack of oxygen? As far as I remember,
the kidney is used to eliminate wastes and the liver is used to eliminate alcohol.
So whats the connection?
Part III- Subcellular Metabolite Analysis
1. For each metabolite listed in the table, describe its role in cellular
respiration? Are they substrates or products? What is their main function?
Glucose is used in cellular respiration as a substrate, where it is broken down
bond by bond to extract energy from it to power the body. Pyruvate is a product
of glycolysis, as it is a derivative of glucose created from the extraction of energy
within glucose. It is used in the form of Acetyl-Coa to start the Citric Acid Cycle.
NAD+ is a substrate molecule that, during Glycolysis, acts as an electron
acceptor. Doing so allows it to gain an extra electron needed to bind with a
Hydrogen ion to form the product, NADH. NADH serves as an energy-storing
molecule, that will later be used in the ETC to generate ATP.
2. Are there any abnormalities in the levels of these metabolites in the
victims? Develop a hypothesis about which pathway may be affected
based on these abnormalities. There are abnormalities in the amount of NAD+
and NADH molecules. There is a low amount of NAD+ ions and a high amount of
NADH molecules. From this it can be said that if the amount of NAD+ ions
decreases and the amount of NADH molecules increase, then the activity within
the Electron Transport Chain will increase.
3. Explain your reasoning for your hypothesis. The low amount of NAD+ in
comparison to the high amount of NADH indicates that rate at which NAD+ being
converted to NADH has increased drastically. Since NADH is used as a battery
to charge up the Electron Transport Chain, increasing its amount will like lead to
over-activity within that step of Cellular Respiration.

Part IV- Role of Cyanide

1. What affect would cyanide have on the electron transport chain and the
production of ATP? Explain your answer. Cyanide affects the electron
transport chain in that it stops electrons from flowing freely. Electrons are needed
to help bring Hydrogen ions in and out of the cristae. Without Hydrogen ions
moving in and out, the ATP synthase enzyme, which is powered by the
movement of these ions, doesnt have enough energy to create ATP. Thus, the
amount of ATP created decreases.
2. Given what you now know about the action of cyanide on cellular
respiration, explain why the patients died of lack of oxygen while their
blood oxygen levels were normal? The patients died of hypoxia even though
their blood oxygen levels were normal because the amount of oxygen that was
split had reduced. The molecule, cytochrome C, is used to bring electrons to split
oxygen in two. Cyanide, which blocks this molecule, stops electrons from coming
to split the oxygen. Since splitting oxygen essentially creates more oxygen, if
 there is not enough electrons present to split the oxygen, then the amount
present will decrease. Thus, leading to hypoxia.
3. Would artificial respiration or oxygenation have saved these people? Why
or why not? Artificial respiration or oxygenation wouldnt have saved these
people. Simply adding more oxygen wouldnt necessarily affect how the oxygen
is used. You can have a lot of oxygen available, but if the oxygen isnt being used
by the cell then it is of no use. The best solution to this issue would be attack it at
the source. That is, create a molecule to counteract cyanide and unblock the
electrons that are needed to split and use up the oxygen.
4. Looking back at the information you have about the people before they got
sick, can you suggest a possible source of the cyanide poisoning? How
should public health officials and police respond to this tragedy? I believe
the source of cyanide poisoning may have came from the Tylenol they
consumed. With that in mind, I feel that public health officials and police should
respond to this tragedy by alerting citizens not to use Tylenol and issue a recall
of the product. This way the company that produces the medication can reassess
the contents of their products and develop a safer alternative.