OCR A 6.2.1 · 20 written questions · 44 marks · about 55 minutes · marked as you go
This free quiz has 20 written exam questions on cloning and biotechnology, all taken from OCR A Level Biology A papers (A level, 2017 to 2025). Short answers mark themselves. For longer answers you write your answer, then tick off the OCR mark-scheme points you made, so you see exactly where the marks are. Twenty real OCR A Level exam questions across the whole of 6.2.1, from natural clones and cuttings through micropropagation and animal cloning to fermentation, bacterial growth and immobilised enzymes.
What the quiz covers (OCR A spec 6.2.1)
Natural clones and cuttings (6.2.1(a)): how new plants form naturally from runners, and improving a student's method for taking a cutting.
Micropropagation (6.2.1(b)): the key steps and terms of plant tissue culture, and the advantages of vegetative propagation in agriculture.
Animal cloning (6.2.1(c)(d)): deciding whether asexual reproduction produces clones, embryo splitting, the frog nuclear transfer experiment, why a clone may not be complete, and SCNT for endangered species.
Microorganisms in biotechnology and food (6.2.1(e)(f)): why E. coli and other microorganisms are used, bioremediation and secondary metabolites, and the advantages of microbial food production.
Culturing and fermentation (6.2.1(g)): aseptic precautions, batch versus continuous fermentation, and why fermenters need cooling.
Growth curves and counts (6.2.1(h)): explaining the death phase on a viable and total count graph, and a serial dilution calculation.
Immobilised enzymes (6.2.1(i)): methods of immobilisation and why immobilised enzymes can be less active.
How to use it
Write every answer in full, as you would in the exam: the mark for each question is shown, so you know how much to write. When you self-mark, only tick a point if your answer clearly makes it, then read the examiner's tip under each question. Your progress is saved on your device, so you can do it in two sittings, and at the end you can retry just the questions where you dropped marks.
Prefer multiple choice? Try the 17-question Cloning and Biotechnology multiple choice quiz first.
Open the Cloning and Biotechnology quiz in a new tab (easier on a phone)
Where students lose marks (from OCR examiners' reports and mark schemes)
Each point below is followed by wording that gained marks.
Runners root, then the link withers: Naming the runner but not describing how the new plant forms, or just writing 'vegetative propagation'.
✔ Gains credit: The runner grows away from the parent, forms roots and shoots, then the runner between the plants dies so the new plant separates.
Divide the bulb before replanting: Replanting a whole bulb, taking a stem cutting, or describing micropropagation, which a gardener wouldn't use.
✔ Gains credit: Split (divide) the bulb or remove bulb scales, then plant each piece.
SCNT needs only one animal: Saying SCNT is better for endangered species because it is more efficient, faster or more successful.
✔ Gains credit: SCNT needs only one individual and the outcome (phenotype) is known; embryo splitting needs more than one individual.
Start with a healthy shoot: Describing micropropagation when asked how to take a cutting, and forgetting the first step.
✔ Gains credit: Cut a healthy shoot at a slant between nodes, dip it in rooting powder (auxin) and plant it in moist compost.
Say where the meristem comes from: Saying 'remove meristem tissue' without saying where from, or not giving the purpose of a nutrient or hormone.
✔ Gains credit: Remove meristem tissue from a shoot tip; add nutrients such as amino acids for protein synthesis; add auxins and cytokinins to make shoots and roots grow.
Meiosis shuffles alleles, so no clone: Saying meiosis gives variation by mutation, or just 'variation', when explaining why parthenogenesis doesn't produce clones.
✔ Gains credit: Crossing over and independent assortment in meiosis create new combinations of alleles, so the offspring are not genetically identical.
Electrofusion, not electroporation: Naming electroporation as the way a donor nucleus is put into an enucleated egg, or not saying where the nucleus comes from.
✔ Gains credit: The nucleus from the donor (tadpole) cell fuses with the enucleated egg, using a micropipette or an electric pulse (electrofusion).
Mitochondrial DNA comes from the egg: Saying a clone differs because of 'genetic information from the egg' without saying where, or 'mutations' without saying they are random.
✔ Gains credit: Some genes are in the mitochondria, which come from the egg cell; or random (spontaneous) mutations.
Keep practising
Try the Cloning and Biotechnology multiple choice quiz, the Cellular Control and Manipulating Genomes multiple choice quiz, the Manipulating Genomes written quiz or the Ecosystems written quiz, or browse all our OCR A Level Biology quizzes. Our OCR A masterclasses (Year 12 on Wednesdays at 5.15pm, Year 13 on Tuesdays at 6.30pm) work through real exam questions on one topic each week.
Questions, mark schemes and examiners' report extracts © OCR.