Medical Mysteries
A 19-year-old student presents with loss of appetite, fever, and a dull pain around the belly button that shifted over several hours to the right lower quadrant, worsening with movement or coughing.
What is Appendicitis?
It may be small but it is one important part of the brain that keeps you alive.
What is the brainstem?
The only person to win the Nobel Prize in Physics twice for his work with transistors and superconductivity. His name is also associated with one of UIUC's quadrangles.
Who was John Bardeen?
Thanks to a global vaccination campaign led by the WHO, this deadly disease, characterized by severe skin pustules, was officially declared completely eradicated in 1980, making it the first human disease ever eliminated.
What is Smallpox?
What is Vietnam?
A 52-year-old patient presents with muscle twitching, asymmetric arm weakness, and slurred speech. Over time, sensory neurons remain completely intact, but upper and lower motor neurons progressively degenerate.
What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)?
Bearing most of the body's weight in the lower leg, this bone, commonly known as the shinbone, articulates with the femur at its proximal end and the talus at its distal end.
What is the tibia?
The winners of the 2026 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine. Made breakthroughs in light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Name at least one!
Who are Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel?
Famous for spreading throughout 19th and 20th century European royal families via Queen Victoria, this X-linked recessive blood-clotting disorder gained worldwide renown after affecting Tsar Nicholas II's son, Alexei.
What is Hemophilia?
The amount of countries that Loc has lived in.
What is lived in 5 countries?
A 28-year-old woman presents with joint pain, fatigue, and a distinct red rash across her cheeks and bridge of her nose that worsens after sun exposure. Lab tests reveal antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies. Also well known in the medical drama House!
What is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (or Lupus)?
Located in the middle ear there are three bones, also known as the auditory ossicles, that are considered the smallest bones in the body.
What are the Malleus (Hammer), Incus (Anvil), and Stapes (Stirrup)?
Two famous scientists who are mentioned at least once in every single Biology course. They won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 for their work with genome editing and the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme. (Have to name both scientists to get points for this question)
Who are Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier?
Once referred to as "punch-drunk syndrome" or dementia pugilistica in boxers, this neurodegenerative disease gained widespread modern fame after Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered it in the brain of NFL hall-of-famer Mike Webster. (Give the full name not the acronym)
What is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)?
The favorite condiment of choice of Loc.
What is mayonnaise?
An infant presents with poor weight gain, greasy bowel movements, and recurrent chest infections. Parents report that when they kiss the baby's forehead, her skin tastes unusually salty.
What is Cystic Fibrosis?
These soft, membrane-covered gaps between a newborn’s cranial bones allow the head to compress during childbirth and accommodate rapid brain growth during infancy.
What are fontanelles/fontanels?
A former faculty member of UIUC until his death in 2007 and winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He won the prize for his work with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and the invention of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which has lead to the creation of the MRI machine.
Who was Paul Christian Lauterbur?
Famous for a high-mortality 1993 outbreak in the American Southwest and a relatively recent scare, this viral pathogen is transmitted via inhalation of aerosolized droppings from infected deer mice, causing severe pulmonary syndrome.
What is Hanta Virus?
The character that Loc performed in his school's rendition of Beauty and the Beast.
Who is Lefou?
A 3-year-old child presents with a high fever lasting 5 days, bilateral bloodshot eyes without discharge, cracked red lips, a "strawberry tongue," and peeling skin on the fingertips. If untreated, the primary concern is the development of coronary artery aneurysms.
What is Kawasaki Disease?
Located at the junction of the terminal ileum and the cecum, this sphincter-like structure regulates the entry of indigestible food residues into the large intestine and prevents fecal backflow.
What is the ileocecal valve?
This person won the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries relating to the replication mechanism and genetic structure of viruses. Additionally while working as a faculty at UIUC they discovered the biological phenomenon of restriction that later lead to the discovery of restriction enzymes.
Who was Salvador Luria?
Discovered among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea in the 1950s, this fatal neurological disorder was linked to ritualistic mortuary cannibalism and led to the discovery of infectious, misfolded proteins called prions.
What is Kuru?
The location of Loc's birthmark.
Where is the back of his knee?