General Awareness · Science General

Inventors and Scientific Discoveries

4,616 Questions

This hub provides questions related to great inventors and their scientific discoveries. It covers the inventors of the telephone, radio, and microchips, alongside Nobel Prize winners. These facts are crucial for the general awareness section of major competitive exams.

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Inventors and Scientific Discoveries Questions

Multiple choice

The term mutation was used for the first time for studies of

  1. oenothera lamarckiana by de Vries

  2. O. lamarckiana by Lamarck

  3. acetabularia crenulata by de Vries

  4. acetabularia cranulata by Lamarck
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Hugo de Vries first used the term 'mutation' in 1901 for his studies on Oenothera lamarckiana (evening primrose). He observed sudden, heritable changes in plants that could not be explained by Mendelian laws, founding the mutation theory. De Vries is considered one of the rediscoverers of Mendel's laws along with Correns and Tschermak.

Multiple choice

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for which of the following?

  1. For the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis

  2. For studies of the structure and function of the ribosome

  3. For studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces

  4. For the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP

  5. For work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath for their studies of the structure and function of the ribosome. Their work using X-ray crystallography revealed how ribosomes work at the atomic level, crucial for understanding protein synthesis in all living organisms.

Multiple choice

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and who among the following?

  1. Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie

  2. Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland

  3. Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath

  4. Sidney Altman and Thomas R. Cech

  5. Jean-Marie Lehn and Charles J. Pedersen
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Dr. Ramakrishnan, 57, who was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, is the senior scientist and group leader at the Structural Studies Division of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He had earlier studied at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara. 69-year-old Dr. Steitz is a professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University and attached to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 70-year-old Dr. Yonath is a professor of structural biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

Multiple choice

Who are the winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine?

  1. Harald zur Hausen, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, Luc Montagnier

  2. Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans, Oliver Smithies

  3. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, Jack W. Szostak

  4. Andrew Z. Fire, Craig C. Mello

  5. Barry J. Marshall, J. Robin Warren
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. Their work explained how telomeres prevent chromosome degradation and revealed their role in aging and cancer.

Multiple choice

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for which of the following?

  1. For discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system

  2. For discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA

  3. For the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase

  4. For discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells

  5. For the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The winners won for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer. The trio solved the mystery of how chromosomes, the rod-like structures that carry DNA, protect themselves from degrading when cells divide.

Multiple choice

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to three scientists from University of California, Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Medical School. Which of the following statements about the Nobel Prize in Medicine is/are correct? I. The youngest Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine is Frederick G. Banting, who was 32 years old when he was awarded the Prize in 1923. II. The oldest Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine to date is Peyton Rous, who was 87 years old when he was awarded the Prize in 1966. III. Only one scientist has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine more than once

  1. I only

  2. I and II only

  3. II and III only

  4. III and I only

  5. I, II & III
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

No scientist has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine more than once

Multiple choice

Who are the winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics?

  1. Albert Fert, Peter Grunberg

  2. John C. Mather, George F. Smoot

  3. Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle, George E. Smith

  4. Roy J. Glauber, John L Hall, Theodor W. Hansch

  5. David J. Gross, H. David Politzer, Frank Wilczek
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Charles K. Kao for groundbreaking achievements in fiber optics communication, and Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith for inventing the CCD (charge-coupled device) semiconductor imaging sensor. These innovations revolutionized telecommunications and digital photography.

Multiple choice

Who discovered the process of mitosis?

  1. Hugo von Mohl

  2. Edouard Van Beneden

  3. Lamarck

  4. August Weismann

  5. Hermann Pagenstecher
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In 1835, German botanist Hugo von Mohl discovered the process of mitosis.

Multiple choice

The first biological database was made by

  1. Dayhoff

  2. Darwin

  3. Pauling

  4. Markov
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Margaret Dayhoff created the first biological database - the Protein Data Bank precursor and Atlas of Protein Sequence and Structure in the 1960s. She pioneered computational biology and developed the one-letter amino acid code. Darwin, Pauling, and Markov, while important in biology, did not create the first database.