Q 01/05

In 1796 Edward Jenner infected a boy with cowpox to protect him against which deadlier disease?

A) Chickenpox

B) Smallpox

C) Measles

D) Polio

Answer · why

B) Smallpox

Smallpox: Latin vacca, 'cow', is why Jenner's cowpox method gave us the word vaccination.

Q 02/05

In which Dutch city did Van Leeuwenhoek live and work for most of his life?

A) Amsterdam

B) Delft

C) Leiden

D) Utrecht

Answer · why

B) Delft

Delft: a cloth merchant there with no university education, he ground his own lenses and became the first person to see bacteria.

Q 03/05

Robert Hooke coined the biological term 'cell' after studying thin slices of what?

A) Onion skin

B) Cork

C) Human skin

D) Tree leaves

Answer · why

B) Cork

Cork: the book reporting it, Micrographia, so gripped Samuel Pepys that he sat up until 2 a.m. reading it.

Q 04/05

Lyme disease, a bacterial infection, is usually passed to people through the bite of what?

A) Mosquitoes

B) Fleas

C) Ticks

D) Bedbugs

Answer · why

C) Ticks

Ticks: the illness takes its name from Lyme, Connecticut, where a mysterious cluster of cases in 1975 led doctors to identify it.

Q 05/05

Tetanus is often blamed on rusty nails, but what actually causes it?

A) A fungus on the metal

B) A virus in rainwater

C) A parasite in puddles

D) Bacteria from soil

Answer · why

D) Bacteria from soil

Bacteria from soil: rusty nails are simply outdoor objects that tend to carry dirt, and deep, dirty wounds give the germs their best chance.