1. In order for a virus to infect you
a) a molecule on the surface of the virus must match a molecule on the surface of one of your cells
b) it must be a pathogenic (disease causing) virus
c) your immune system must be damaged or at least depressed
d) you must have has a previous exposure to that same virus
e) it must be icosahedral in shape

2. When BSE (“Mad Cow Disease”) is transmitted to humans, the resulting disease is generally referred to as
a) variant BSE
b) variant kuru
c) variant Creutzfeld-Jacob diseaseZ
d) variant scrapie
e) louping-ill

3. The term “Columbian Exchange” takes its name from
a) a medicinal plants called “columbine”
b) the region of South America now occupied by the modern nation of Columbia
c) the explorer Christopher Columbus
d) the fact that it rested on four “columns” of trade, religion, disease, and agriculture
e) an early 16th century pope

4. Complement and antibodies are both elements of your immune response. When complement encounters an antibody that is free (i.e. not bound to anything) what happens?
a) Complement is triggeres to punch holes in anything nearby
b) Complement signals antibody-producing cells to make more of that specific form of antibody
c) Complement signals antibody-producing cells to stop making any more of that specific form of antibody
d) nothing

5. As of November 1977, when Richard Rhodes finished writing Deadly Feasts, the number of confirmed deaths from vCJD (new variant CJD) was measured in the
a) dozens
b) hundreds
c) thousands
d) hundreds of thousands
e) millions

6. The term “innocent syphilis” refers to
a) syphilis derived from sources other than sexual contact or injection drug use
b) the stage of syphilis where there are no symptoms (also known as “latent syphilis”)
c) a relatively rare form of syphilis infection that is self-curing and has few symptoms
d) the non-infectious stage of syphilis brought on by treatment with mercury and arsenicals like neosalvorsan
e) diseases like gonorrhea that were once lumped together with syphilis

7. Human settlement of the “New World” actually occurred
a) somewhat earlier (about 10,000 to 20,000years) than human settlement of Europe
b) much earlier (at least 50,000 years) than Europe
c) about the same time as Europe
d) much later than Europe
e) initially about the same time as Europe, but this population died out in the same mass extinction as the dinosaurs and was replaced by a more recent repopulation about 3 or 4 thousand years ago

8. Every virus known has
a) a membrane surrounding the capsid
b) a protein shell surrounding the nucleic acid
c) at least one piece of DNA
d) at least one pice of RNA
e) a nucleus and a cytoplasm

9. What is “Ice-nine?”
a) a military term for personnel who work in level four biocontainment labs
b) a military term for the most extreme degree of biological containment
c) an unusual form of ice described in a science fiction novel
d) a derisive term for illegal immigrants (who cannot fill out their I-9 forms for work visas)
e) the highest grade of diamond and, by analogy, scientific slang for “the highest grade of proof” for a theory

10. In the 1920’s there were estimates that about 150,000 to 200,000 new cases of syphilis were occurring in the US every year. Now that number is
a) about 10 fold lower (real answer. There are about 15,0000/yr)
b) about 100 fold lower (I mis-spoke and said 1,500 – 2000/year in class. So this answer counts as correct too)
c) about 10 fold higher
d) about 100 fold higher
e) about the same

11. The use of mercury rubs as a successful treatment for syphilis was tried because
a) mercury cured scabies, which had a rash that looked like syphilis
b) mercury caused madness, as did syphilis, and it was thought overdoing the cause could lead the body to react and cure itself
c) the Aztecs had used mercury for centuries as a treatment for syphilis
d) the Incas has used mercury for centuries as a treatment for fever
e) mercury caused the skin to ooze or “weep” blood and this was seen as a “more scientific” form of the older practice of “bleeding” to treat disease

12. The second stage of syphilis is sometimes characterized by
a) a chancre (painless ulcer on the genitalia)
b) a red and itchy rash
c) cardiovascular denergation
d) severe arthritis caused by an autoimmune reaction
e) insanity

13. Which of the following was NOT part of the “Columbian Exchange?”
a) measles
b) syphilis
c) smallpox
d) tuberculosis
e) malaria

14. The organism that causes syphilis is shaped like
a) a sphere
b) a football
c) a cylinder
d) a corkscrew
e) an icosahedron

15. Most, if not all, stomach ulcers are caused by a bacterium in the genus
a) Salmonella
b) Helicobacter
c) Treponema
d) Borelia
e) Vibrio

16. The test that made it possible to identify persons suffering from syphilis even in the absence of symptoms was developed by
a) Erlich
b) Parran
c) Wasserman
d) Calmette-Guerin
e) Koch

17. “The causative agent for kuru, vCJD, and scrapie is an aberrantly aggregated form of a normal protein and this agent lacks any nucleic acid.” With regard to this statement,
a) Gajdusek and Prusiner agree that it is true
b) Gajdusek and Prusiner agree that it is false
c) Gajdusek believes it is true but Prusiner believes it is false
d) Prusiner believes it is true but Gajdusek believes it is false
e) Prusiner knows it is false, but claims it is true nonetheless

18. Who is Eunice Rivers?
a) A historian of medicine and science
b) A nurse associated with the Tuskeegee Study
c) The first to see “scrapie associated fibrils” and to suggest that they are infectious
d) The head of the WCTU (“Temperance Union”) who opposed the pragmatic policies of the ISHB (Social Hygiene Board)
e) The grandmother of the first victim of vCJD in Great Britain

19. Which of these would be the most effective in treating syphilis?
a) Quinine
b) Mercury
c) Salvorsan (arsphenamine)
d) Penicillin
e) Gaiacum wood

20. Richard Rhodes uses the term “industrial cannibalism” to mean
a) the swallowing of small agricultural businesses by large national trusts, and the subsequent swallowing of these by transnational and then multinational corporations
b) the policy of former government ministers taking jobs in the agrobusinesses they used to regulate, leading present ministers to regulate weakly to ensure future jobs
c) the eating of placentas in the field by sheep that later become ill with scrapie
d) the feeding of animal parts back to the animals
e) the practice of dismantling old, unprofitable industries and using their labor, capital, and machinery to enrich newer, governmentally subsidised industries

21. In the 1920’s the Rosenwald Foundation helped fund a demostration project that showed that it was possible to successfully treat rural black sharecroppers for syphilis. This project took place in
a) Alabama
b) Mississippi
c) Georgia
d) Virginia
e) Tennessee

22. Which of these diseases can be caused by a virus
a) yaws
b) herpes
c) gonorrhea
d) syphilis
e) chlamydia

23. The play “Miss Evers’ Boys” is play about
a) the effects of a particular bordello on the spread of syphilis in an army camp
b) the role of an evangelist who preached sexual abstinence during World War I
c) the female scientist who developed an effective prophylaxis against syphilis
d) an experimental study of untreated syphilis
e) a woman who cared for babies born with congenital syphilis in New York City in the early 1900’s