Q 01/05

Which French anatomist, called the father of histology, identified 21 tissue types without a microscope?

A) Louis Pasteur

B) Xavier Bichat

C) Georges Cuvier

D) Claude Bernard

Answer · why

B) Xavier Bichat

Xavier Bichat thought the microscopes of his day too crude for medicine. He died at 30, probably of typhoid caught while examining decaying skin.

Q 02/05

Hematoxylin, the nuclear dye in the standard H&E tissue stain, is extracted from the wood of which tree?

A) Rosewood

B) Boxwood

C) Logwood

D) Sandalwood

Answer · why

C) Logwood

Logwood heartwood yields the dye, but it stains nothing until it has been oxidised and paired with a metal salt, most often aluminium.

Q 03/05

Which large bone cell, usually holding several nuclei, dissolves old bone by secreting acid?

A) Osteoclast

B) Osteoblast

C) Chondroblast

D) Odontoblast

Answer · why

A) Osteoclast

Osteoclast comes from Greek words for 'bone' and 'broken'. The cell pumps hydrogen ions into the space beneath it and leaves a shallow pit behind.

Q 04/05

Which cells in the stomach's gastric glands secrete both hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor?

A) Chief

B) Foveolar

C) Parietal

D) Paneth

Answer · why

C) Parietal

Parietal cells pump acid against a gradient of three to four million to one, among the steepest ion gradients in any mammalian tissue.

Q 05/05

Which tiny smooth muscles attached to hair follicles contract in the cold to raise goose bumps?

A) Tensor tympani

B) Orbicularis oculi

C) Levator palpebrae

D) Arrector pili

Answer · why

D) Arrector pili

Arrector pili muscles contract without any conscious control. In furry mammals the raised hairs trap a layer of air that helps the animal hold on to h...