Famous Outbreaks
Hollywood Goes Viral
Guess the CPE?
Things that only happen during R&D
Who Even Runs This Place?
100
The 1918 pandemic that infected one-third of the world was caused by:
A. The Bubonic Plague
B. Influenza A H1N1 Virus
C. Smallpox Virus
D. Measles Virus
→ Correct: B - What is Influenza A H1N1 Virus?
The 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic spread globally in three deadly waves and is estimated to have killed at least 50 million people, making it one of the deadliest events in human history.
100
The “Motaba” virus appears in which movie?
A. Contagion
B. Outbreak
C. World War Z
D. The Stand
→ Correct: B -What is Outbreak?
100
What is Syncytia?
100
In Aaron’s study on the effect of multiple freeze/thaw cycles, which viruses were actually tested?
A. Enveloped, dsDNA, +ssRNA, -ssRNA, and non-enveloped dsDNA and +ssRNA, -ssRNA.
B. Enveloped dsDNA, +ssRNA, -ssRNA, and non-enveloped dsDNA and +ssRNA, because we don’t have -ssRNA viruses at all.
C. Only Enveloped viruses.
D. Whatever viruses that we grew for Bioreliance.
→ Correct: B - Enveloped dsDNA, +ssRNA, -ssRNA, and non-enveloped dsDNA and +ssRNA, because we don’t have -ssRNA viruses at all.
100
Why are BSL-3 labs always freezing?
A. To maintain viral stability.
B. Filtration System Efficiency.
C. To keep Jacob awake and alert.
D. Because Facilities is extremely good at their job.
→ Correct: B - Filtration System Efficiency.
200
Ebola was first identified near which river?
A. Congo
B. Nile
C. Ebola
D. Zambezi
→ Correct: C - What is Ebola?
Ebola was first identified in 1976 during simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo; the virus was named after the nearby Ebola River to avoid stigmatizing the village where it appeared.
200
In The Walking Dead, the outbreak is implied to be caused by:
A. Bacteria
B. Fungus
C. Virus
D. Parasite
→ Correct: C - What is a Virus?
200
Which virus commonly causes partial destruction of the monolayer, leaving scattered areas of cell loss?
A. Measles Virus
B. SARS-CoV-2
C. RSV
D. CMV
→ Correct: B - What is SARS-CoV-2?
200
What issue with Rubella pushed Bradley to perform IFA?
A. The viral growth kinetics were inconsistent across passages, making TCID50 unreliable.
B. Tanya loves fluorescent images and she wanted some for the her slide deck.
C. The viral genome showed unexpected mutations affecting receptor binding and entry efficiency.
D. The virus did not show clear CPE, making standard readouts difficult.
→ Correct:D - The virus did not show clear CPE, making standard readouts difficult.
200
What is the average time for getting PCR results back?
A. Three months.
B. Six months.
C. No chance without multiple reminders.
D. Only after activating our secret agents: Diana & Maria.
→ Correct: C - No chance without multiple reminders.
300
The first pandemic of the 21st century (2002–2003) was caused by:
A. MERS-CoV
B. SARS-CoV
C. Swine Flu
D. Nipah virus
→ Correct: B - What is SARS-CoV?
SARS-CoV emerged in southern China in 2002 and spread to more than two dozen countries before being contained in 2003, marking the first major coronavirus pandemic threat.
300
Which legendary metal band is named after a dangerous microorganisms?
A. Viral Load
B. Anthrax
C. Paramyxovirus
D. The Germs
→ Correct: B - What is Anthrax?
They picked the name because it sounded “cool,” not because they love spore-forming bacteria.
300
Which cytopathic effect is most characteristic of HIV-1 infection in permissive cell lines like M8166?
A. Ballooning degeneration
B. Syncytia formation (multinucleated giant cells)
C. Cytoplasmic vacuolization
D. Owl’s eye nuclear inclusions
→ Correct: B - What is syncytia formation?
HIV-1 causes infected CD4⁺ T-cells to fuse with neighboring cells via gp120–CD4 interaction, producing large multinucleated syncytia before apoptotic cell death.
300
When Stacey fixed the HHV-6 protocol, what was the most surprising thing she revealed?
A. A possible typo in the SOP that changed the ratio.
B. An unexpected strain-specific difference requiring adjustment of incubation time.
C. A previously unrecognized sensitivity of HHV-6 to minor temperature fluctuations during incubation.
D. That HHV-6 only behaves correctly when country music is playing at the background, of the lab.
→ Correct: A - A possible typo in the SOP that changed the ratio.
300
Which department is the most collaborative with VPL?
A. Molecular, by consistently providing data back and requesting 1,000,000,000 NATtrols.
B. BacT, specifically with food-sharing logistics.
C. QA, always checking above and behind.
D. Materials and Management by bringing everything we need.
→ Correct: D - Materials and Management by bringing everything we need.
400
The Four Corners outbreak in 1993 was due to:
A. Junín Virus
B. Marburg Virus
C. Sin Nombre Virus (Hantavirus)
D. Norovirus
→ Correct: C - What is Sin Nombre Virus?
The 1993 Four Corners outbreak was traced to deer mice shedding Sin Nombre virus, which caused severe hantavirus pulmonary syndrome with a fatality rate of about 50%.
400
The “Rage” virus in 28 Days Later spreads in seconds due to:
A. Zero incubation period
B. Airborne & Bloodborne
C. Fast replication
D. Temperature changes
→ Correct: A - What is zero incubation period?
The “Rage” virus in 28 Days Later spreads within seconds of exposure—dramatically faster than any real pathogen.
400
The dark structures seen inside the cells are characteristic of viral replication.
A. Intranuclear inclusion bodies
B. Intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies
C. Plaque formation
D. Vacuolization
→ Correct: B - What are intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies?
400
Viral Kinetics: In the ultimate battle of PCR versus titer, what was the main conclusion?
A. The two methods are correlated, but their absolute values can differ substantially.
B. PCR always overestimates titer because it is emotionally attached to nucleic acids.
C. The two methods produce identical quantitative results when performed by experienced technicians.
D. Any differences between PCR and titer are caused primarily by pipetting error and lab humidity.
→ Correct: A - The two methods are correlated, but their absolute values can differ substantially.
400
When Immunology runs an ELISA to test PROtrol or any other material, what is their required sample volume (not how much we give them, how much they actually use)?
A. Less than 20 µL.
B. 50 to 100 µL, depending on plate format, dilution strategy, and how brave everyone is feeling.
C. Depend on the specific virus.
D. Classified information, revealed only after the plate is already running.
→ Correct: A - Less than 20 µL.
500
The Meschede, Germany outbreak influenced modern biosafety because it involved:
A. Lassa Virus
B. Smallpox Virus
C. Ebola Virus
D. West Nile Virus
→ Correct: B - What is Smallpox?
In 1970, an infected hospital worker triggered a small but alarming smallpox outbreak in Meschede, Germany, leading to major reforms in infection control that influenced modern BSL-3/BSL-4 laboratory standards.
500
Which artist released a song called “Virus”, comparing love to a viral infection?
A.Radiohead
B. Björk
C. Billie Eilish
D. Charlie XCX
→ Correct: B - What is Björk?
"It's like I got infected by your darkness and hatred"
500
What is vacuolization?
500
Who inherited the clarification project after Dan, and what is its current status?
A. No one, as the project clearly demonstrated that clarification is not worth pursuing.
B. Patrick, who is more than halfway through updating all appropriate viruses to be clarified.
C. Riley inherited the project but paused all clarification work pending a full redesign of the virus panel. Plus she need it to focus on Plasma.
D. The project achieved sentience and is now self-clarifying on its own timeline.
→ Correct: B - Patrick, who is more than halfway through updating all appropriate viruses to be clarified.
500
During a QA review, a deviation is found that had no product impact, but the SOP is technically incorrect. What happens next?
A. The deviation is closed with justification and everyone moves on carefully pretending this never happened.
B. The SOP is updated, triggering re-training, re-approval, and a sudden spike in calendar invites.
C. The issue is documented, monitored, and quietly hoped to never appear again.
D. A CAPA is opened, closed, reopened, and referenced in at least two future audits.
→ Correct: B - The SOP is updated, triggering re-training, re-approval, and a sudden spike in calendar invites.