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Cell and Molecular Biology, semester 1

CELS191 practice questions

Cutline has CELS191 practice questions with worked solutions. Course topics include cell structure and diversity, molecular biology and genetics, human molecular genetics, and microbiology. Check the published practice below for the worksheets currently available. You can start free without a card.

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1,852published MCQs
39worksheets and mock exams

As the catalogue lists them, checked 23 Oct 2026.

Try a few real reps

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  • L6: Cellular RespirationSample 1 of 3
    Which of these statements is CORRECT regarding the byproduct water in respiration?
    Answer choices
    Show answer

    Correct answer: B

    Worked solution

    At the end of the ETC, oxygen reduces to water by picking up electrons and protons: 12O2+2e−+2H+→H2O\frac{1}{2}O_2 + 2e^- + 2H^+ \rightarrow H_2O
  • Cell Structure and OrganellesSample 2 of 3
    Which organelle modifies, sorts and packages proteins into vesicles after they are synthesised at the rough endoplasmic reticulum?
    Answer choices
    Show answer

    Correct answer: A

    Worked solution

    The Golgi apparatus receives proteins from the rough ER, modifies them further, and sorts and packages them into vesicles for secretion or delivery to other organelles.
  • DNA Replication and RepairSample 3 of 3
    DNA polymerase can only synthesise new DNA in which direction?
    Answer choices
    Show answer

    Correct answer: A

    Worked solution

    DNA polymerase adds new nucleotides only to the free 3'-OH group of a growing strand, so synthesis always proceeds in the 5' to 3' direction, regardless of which strand is used as the template.

Published MCQ practice

Teaching practice and mock exams currently listed for this paper.

Teaching practice

  • Module 1: Cell Structure & Diversity

    Worksheets: 9

    MCQs: 502

    • L1: Diversity of LifeMCQs: 40
    • L2: MacromoleculesMCQs: 49
    • L3: Structure of the CellMCQs: 108
    • L4: Endomembrane systemMCQs: 55
    • L5: CytoskeletonMCQs: 50
    • L6: Cellular RespirationMCQs: 48
    • L7: PhotosynthesisMCQs: 53
    • L8: Cell WallMCQs: 47
    • L9: NucleusMCQs: 52
  • Module 2: Molecular Biology & Genetics

    Worksheets: 12

    MCQs: 483

    • L10: DNAMCQs: 56
    • L11: TranscriptionMCQs: 54
    • L12: TranslationMCQs: 55
    • L13: DNA replicationMCQs: 38
    • L14: MitosisMCQs: 35
    • L15: MeiosisMCQs: 39
    • L16: Meiosis continuedMCQs: 38
    • L17: X-inactivationMCQs: 33
    • L18MCQs: 37
    • L19MCQs: 24
    • L20: Recombinant FrequenciesMCQs: 34
    • L21MCQs: 40
  • Module 3

    Worksheets: 6

    MCQs: 276

    • L22MCQs: 38
    • L23MCQs: 32
    • L24MCQs: 54
    • L25MCQs: 48
    • L26MCQs: 51
    • L27MCQs: 53
  • Module 4

    Worksheets: 9

    MCQs: 466

    • L28MCQs: 53
    • L29MCQs: 51
    • L30MCQs: 50
    • L31MCQs: 54
    • L32MCQs: 52
    • L33MCQs: 47
    • L34MCQs: 51
    • L35MCQs: 53
    • L36MCQs: 55

Mock exams

  • Progress Test Mocks

    Mock exams: 3

    MCQs: 125

    • Mock 1MCQs: 42
    • Mock 2MCQs: 43
    • Mock 3MCQs: 40

What this list includes. Active products only. Published worksheets in visible groups, with unrestricted multiple-choice questions. Retired questions, module tests and written questions are excluded. This does not measure whole-course coverage or concept articles. This catalogue is cached. The app rechecks access before you start. .

What this paper covers

These are paper topics, not a list of published worksheets.

  • cell structure and organelles
  • cellular respiration
  • dna replication and repair
  • gene expression
  • cell signalling

How to approach CELS191

cels191 comes down to knowledge gaps, same as the body-systems papers. there is a lot of detail across cells, genetics and microbiology, and it is easy to think you know it until a question proves otherwise. drilling questions is the quickest way to surface what has not stuck and patch it before the final.

worth
18 points (0.15 EFTS)
taught
semester 1
assessment
10% lab tests, 20% progress test, 70% final (multi-choice and structured answers)

How to study CELS191 (science-based)

These are established findings, not fringe claims, and recent reviews keep confirming them (Carpenter et al., 2022; Weinstein et al., 2018). The emphasis here is on the higher-order skill of applying and transferring ideas to unseen questions, which is what separates the top HSFY grades and the study habits medicine selects for.

cels191 packs a large amount of detail across cell biology, genetics and microbiology, and it is easy to feel like you know material that you cannot reproduce under pressure. the methods below are matched to that problem: they surface what has stuck and keep it from fading between lectures and the exam.

  1. retrieval beats concept-mapping

    concept maps are popular in biology, but in a direct head-to-head experiment, students who spent a session practising retrieval learned more, and retained it better a week later, than students who spent the same time building elaborate concept maps of the identical material (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011). the elaborate map feels like deep work, but a lot of the effort goes into drawing rather than remembering.

    for cels191 this means the highest-value version of your notes is a blank page. instead of redrawing a transcription-and-translation map, close it and re-explain the whole central-dogma sequence from memory, in order, out loud or in writing. the same applies to processes like the cell cycle or PCR, where being able to generate the sequence beats being able to recognise a pretty diagram of it. (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011)

    Try it: instead of redrawing a transcription-and-translation map, close it and reconstruct the whole central-dogma sequence from memory.

  2. space your genetics review

    the spacing effect is one of the best replicated findings in learning research: the same total study time produces far more durable memory when it is spread across several sessions than when it is crammed into one (Cepeda et al., 2006). the mechanism is that letting a little forgetting happen, then retrieving again, is what strengthens the memory.

    cels191 genetics and microbiology detail, inheritance patterns, microbial genetics, the vocabulary of the human microbiome, decays quickly if you meet it once. reviewing a worksheet today, again in a few days, and again a week later holds far more of it than a single long block before the progress test, and it fits the semester-long structure of the paper rather than fighting it. (Cepeda et al., 2006)

    Try it: review a genetics worksheet today, again in three days, then again a week later, rather than in one marathon sitting.

  3. interleave inheritance problem types

    interleaving, mixing problem types rather than blocking them, trains the skill of recognising which method a problem needs, and it outperforms blocked practice on later tests even though it feels harder in the moment (Rohrer & Taylor, 2007).

    in cels191 genetics, monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, linkage and recombination, and Hardy-Weinberg population problems all blur together, and the exam does not tell you which is which. a mixed set forces you to read a problem cold and decide whether it is a recombination-frequency question or an allele-frequency one before you start calculating, which is the actual exam skill. (Rohrer & Taylor, 2007; Brunmair & Richter, 2019)

    Try it: make a mixed set that switches between a dihybrid cross, a recombination-frequency question and an allele-frequency calculation.

  4. practise applying the rules

    the cels191 questions that separate high grades ask you to apply a concept, predicting the offspring ratio in an unfamiliar cross or the consequence of a specific mutation, rather than to recognise a definition. retrieval practice with varied problems builds this transfer, the capacity to use knowledge in new situations (Pan & Rickard, 2018; Carpenter et al., 2022), and it is the same study habit that predicts later medical-exam performance for students heading that way (Deng et al., 2015).

    shift your practice from recognition to application: instead of reviewing a labelled diagram of meiosis, work problems where a specific error occurs and you have to predict the result. genetics is the ideal training ground, novel crosses and mutations force you to apply the rules rather than recall a worked example. (Pan & Rickard, 2018; Carpenter et al., 2022; Deng et al., 2015)

    Try it: take a genetics rule and apply it to an unfamiliar cross or mutation you have to reason through, not one you have seen solved.

Flashcards, spaced repetition and Anki

The spacing effect is why flashcards work: revisiting a fact just as you are about to forget it locks it in far better than cramming (Cepeda et al., 2006). Anki is the tool most health-science students reach for, and it is good. the genetics and microbiology vocabulary is perfect flashcard material, so a spaced deck keeps it from fading between lectures. Cutline pairs Anki-style flashcards for the raw facts with a qbank of exam-style CELS191 questions, so you can drill what needs memorising and then practise applying it.

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Questions about CELS191

does this cover cellular respiration in depth?

Check the published practice list for the CELS191 worksheets currently available. The topic overview is not a promise that every lecture has been published.

can i track my progress across modules?

yes, free accounts track reps per module so you can see where to focus next.

Keep reading

The evidence

The study methods above come from established research in cognitive and educational psychology.

  1. Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772 to 775.
  2. Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354 to 380.
  3. Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning. Instructional Science, 35(6), 481 to 498.
  4. Brunmair, M., & Richter, T. (2019). Similarity matters: A meta-analysis of interleaved learning and its moderators. Psychological Bulletin, 145(11), 1029 to 1052.
  5. Pan, S. C., & Rickard, T. C. (2018). Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(7), 710 to 756.
  6. Carpenter, S. K., Pan, S. C., & Butler, A. C. (2022). The science of effective learning with spacing and retrieval practice. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(9), 496 to 511.
  7. Deng, F., Gluckstein, J. A., & Larsen, D. P. (2015). Student-directed retrieval practice is a predictor of medical licensing examination performance. Perspectives on Medical Education, 4(6), 308 to 313.
  8. Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3, 2.

Practise CELS191 the way it is examined.

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CELS191 practice questions | Cutline