The Genesis of Germs Chapter 1

Question 1

Name the microbiologist who first described synthesis of the red pigment found in bacteria that often cause bread and communion wafers to have blood on it.

Answer 1

Robert P. Williams

Question 2

What percentage of bacteria is pathogenic?

Answer 2

5%

Question 3

Give the name of the pigment responsible for the bright red color in the bacteria that appeared as “blood.”

Answer 3

prodigiosin

Question 4

The idea that microbes “pop” into existence from substances less complex than a living cell is termed:

Answer 4

spontaneous generation

Question 5

New diseases are the product of

Answer 5

variation, or change within “kinds”, not evolution

Question 6

In hospitials, does Serratia marcescens, tend to colonize the gastroinstestinal track of adults?

Answer 6

no

Question 7

Does the news media frequently write about the evolution of new microbe strains that can cause disease?

Answer 7

yes

Question 8

Is disease the result of bacterial mutation and evolution?

Answer 8

no

Question 9

Which scientist devised the theory of spontaneous generation by boiling plant infusions in swan-necked flasks that maintained ther sterility for long periods of time?

Answer 9

Louis Pasteur

Question 10

In his book, Darwin’s Black Box, Dr. Michael Behe describes flagella as

Answer 10

having irreducible complexity