Mcat Mnemonics Biology

Front 1

Anterior Pituitary Hormones

Back 1

"FLAGTOP"

F: Follicle Stimulating Hormone
L: Luteinizing Hormone
A: ACTH
G: Growth Hormone
T: Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
O: MSH - melanOcyte stimulating hormone
P: Prolactin

Front 2

Autonomic Nervous System

Back 2

Sympathetic: fight or flight

Parasympathetic: rest and digest

Front 3

Causes of Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

Back 3

"Maggie May Does Not Smoke"

Mutations, Migration, genetic Drift, Non-random mating, Selection.

Front 4

Cell Cycle

Back 4

"Go Sally Go! Make Children!"

G1, S, G2, M, C

Growth phase 1, DNA Synthesis (replication), Growth phase 2, Mitosis, Cytokinesis.

Front 5

Mitosis

Back 5

"People Meet And Talk", or
"PMAT"
Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase.

Front 6

Meiosis

Back 6

"PMAT x2"

Prophase I, Metaphase I, Anaphase I, Telophase I,

Prophase II, Metaphase II, Anaphase II, Telophase II,

(Note: 4 haploid daughter cells instead of 2 diploid daughter cells)

Front 7

Chordate Features

Back 7

"Do Not Pinch People"

Dorsal, hollow nerve cord
Notochord
Pharyngeal slits
Postanal tail

Front 8

Developmental Stages

Back 8

"Must Be Good"

Morula, Blastula, Gastrula

Front 9

Fat-soluble Vitamins

Back 9

ADEK

Vitamins A,D,E, and K

Front 10

Gastrointestinal Hormones
(i.e. ones that originate from the GI tract)

Back 10

"Garlic Cloves Smell Exquisite"

Gastrin
Cholesystokinin
Secretin
Enterogastrin (gastric inhibitory peptide)

Front 11

Hormones that Increase Blood Glucose

Back 11

"STENGG"
Somatotropin (growth hormone)
Thyroid hormones (throxine and triiodothyronine)
Epinephrine
Norepinephrine
Glucagon
Glucocorticosteroids

Front 12

Immunoglobulins

Back 12

"MADGE"
IgM, IgA, IgD, IgG, IgE

Front 13

Kingdoms

Back 13

"My Poor Friend Picks Apples"

Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plants, Animals

Front 14

Male Reproductive Tract (path of sperm)

Back 14

"SEVEN UP"
Seminiferous Tubules
Epididymis
Vas deferens
(Nothing)
Urethra
Penis

Front 15

Menstrual Cycle

Back 15

"FOL(d) M(a)PS"

Ovarian cycle: Follicular phase, Ovulatory phase, Luteal phase

The ovarian cycle controls the menstual cycle. The cycles begin (day0) when menstrual flow starts. At day 14, the luteal and secretory phases begin and last until day 28 after which the cycles begin again.

Front 16

Exons/Introns

Back 16

"EXons EXpressed, INtrons IN the trash"

DNA expression into mature mRNA

Front 17

Pyrimidines

Back 17

(one-ring structures)

"CUT the PY"

Cytosine, Uracil, and Thiamine are PYrimidines

Front 18

Purines

Back 18

(two-ring structures)

"GAPur"

Guanine and Adenine are PURines

Front 19

Relationship between purines and pyrimidines

Back 19

"All Tigers Can Growl"

Adenine bonds to Thymine; Cytosine bonds to Guanine

or

""Pure Silver Taxi"

Purines, A and G, bond to pyrimidines, T and C, respectively

Front 20

Oxyhemoglobin Dissociation Curve

Back 20

Think of an exercising muscle for a rightward shift:

Exercising muscle is:
hot,
acidic (lactic acid),
hypercarbic,
and has increased 2,3-DPG

Exercising muscle benefits from increased oxygen unloading from red blood cells

Front 21

Proteases in the Duodenum

Back 21

"Eat Tender Chicken Chunks Elegantly"

Enterokinase
Trypsin
Chymotrypsin
Carboxypeptidase
Elastase

Front 22

Inductive Reasoning

Back 22

"IS GOHH"

Induction: Specific > General. Or, Observation > Hypotheses > Hypothesis-testing

Front 23

Deductive Reasoning

Back 23

"D(o)GS"

Deduction: General > Specific

The deductive process proceeds from a general hypothesis to predictions about specific observations.

Front 24

Sedimentation

Back 24

Rate of SeDimentaiton is proportional to Size and Density

More precisely,
Terminal velocity of particle m radius^2 x (density - density of medium)

Front 25

Sizes of organisms

Back 25

"Bowel Movement" or "BM"

A Bacterium is about 1 Micron
A eukaryotic cell is about 10 times larger (10 micron)
A virus is about 100 times smaller (0.01 microns)

Front 26

Striated Muscle

Back 26

"ZIAH"

Z-line, I-band, A-band, H-zone

Front 27

Taxonomy

Back 27

"King Phillip Came Over From Great Spain"

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Front 28

Vertebrate Features

Back 28

"CEVASACK"

Cephalization
Endoskeleton
Vertabrae
Axial skeleton
Skull
Appendicular skeleton
Closed circulatory system
Kidneys

Front 29

White Blood Cells

Back 29

(In order of decreasing numbers)
"Nobody Likes My Educational Backgroud"

N Neutrophyils
L Lymphocytes
M Monocytes
E Eosinophils
B Basophils