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An elderly woman living independently with some help from her family is brought to the local emergency room because she is confused and vomiting. While her son suspects a stroke, a quick battery of laboratory tests indicates that her current problems are the result of impaired kidney function, an old-fashioned home remedy for ulcers, and her prescribed blood pressure medication. The combination of patient- and drug-related factors produces an acid-base disorder responsible for her confusion. This disorder further disrupts her kidney function. The case illustrates secretion and reabsorption processes in the kidney tubule which regulate plasma and urinary electrolytes (including calcium) and pH. The role of bicarbonate in maintaining systemic pH is emphasized. Interactions among the renal, respiratory and nervous systems in the regulation of systemic pH are also illustrated. Further, basic principles of pharmacotherapy and issues related to the appropriate use of medications are introduced. The case was developed for use in a physiology or human anatomy and physiology course, but it might be used in undergraduate nursing courses as well (e.g., pharmacology, pathophysiology).

Scientists in Australia have grown the world's first kidney from stem cells - a tiny organ which could eventually help to reduce the wait for transplants. The breakthrough, published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, followed years of research and involved the transformation of human skin cells into an organoid - a functioning "mini-kidney" with a width of only a few millimetres.

Dr. Richard Lifton, along with student volunteers, uses an aquarium and salt to illustrate the amount of work the kidney performs each day to maintain proper levels of ions in the body.

detailed fact sheet on transport in the kidney

Some thyroid 101 background: Your thyroid gland is the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck that secretes two all-important hormones that control major bodily functions (including how you use energy, regulate body temperature, and digest food) and organs (including the heart, brain, liver, kidneys and skin). But with hypothyroidism, your body can have normal to low thyroxine hormone levels and elevated thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. These high TSH levels are a result of an overworked pituitary gland that is trying to elevate the hormone levels in an inadequately responsive thyroid.

This case study synthesizes students' knowledge of the central dogma and cell structure by examining a rare health disorder in order to understand protein targeting and its medical consequences. Students first identify the molecular alteration in affected members of a family with renal Fanconi syndrome as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (2014). Students then use an online bioinformatics tool to analyze the wildtype and mutant proteins and examine their subcellular localization. Finally, students use this information to explain the symptoms of affected family members. The case is delivered with a PowerPoint presentation that includes a selection of brainstorming prompts and "clicker questions." Students complete a worksheet (included in the teaching notes) before class, making the activity suitable for a flipped classroom. A second worksheet (also included in the teaching notes) is completed during class. The case is written for an introductory biology course for majors, but could also be used as a unit capstone in a non-majors human biology course; the case is also scalable to upper division courses in physiology that specifically explore kidney function.

This PowerPoint-driven case study presents three different stories, each of which explores an aspect of membranes. The first (The Exploding Fish) covers diffusion, specifically addressing the question of why animal cells explode in freshwater but fish do not, and differences between saltwater and freshwater fish. The second case (The Pleasurable Poison) is designed to show that alcohol can slip across membranes and also highlights some of the problems of ingesting this toxin. The third case (The Dangerous Diet) explores a weight-loss drug, DNP, and how it operates in mitochondrial membranes. The first of these case studies also includes a number of "clicker" questions. These cases were originally designed for a semester-long, introductory biology course for non-majors, and instructors can choose to use one or all of the cases to suit their course.

Reference site for International Baccalaureate (IB) Biology course.