Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 193
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF, introducing the Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 193
Question 1
Who discovered DNA?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Not Crick, Watson or Rosalind Franklin but Johannes Friedrich Miescher
In 1869, the Swiss physician Johannes Friedrich Miescher (1844 – 1895) isolated “nuclein,” DNA with associated proteins, from cell nuclei. He was the first to identify DNA as a distinct molecule.
He took bandages soaked in blood and pus from Prussian soldiers in a local hospital, and mixed them with enzymes from a pig’s stomach. They produced a grey goo he assumed was a protein, but it didn’t act like one. He called it ‘nuclein’.
If you don’t want to do the same experiment you can swish some salt water around your cheeks, spit it into a glass containing more salt water and a teaspoon of washing-up liquid and mix for a minute or so. Then pour some ice cold vodka slowly into the glass so it forms a layer on top of the salt water. In a couple of minutes you’ll see white strings start to form.
- Friedrich Miescher (1844-1895) – DNA from the beginning
Question 2
Which finger would you sacrifice first if you had to?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
After your thumb, your little finger is the one you can least afford to lose.
If you get kidnapped then offer up your index finger on your non-dominant hand. The rest of your fingers can compensate for the first finger quite well. If you loose your little finger this halves your grip strength.
Question 3
Where does the word “Quarantine” originate?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
It originates from the Venetian dialect form of the Italian quaranta giorni, meaning ‘forty days’.
To prevent the spread of the Black death, ships and sailors were isolated for 40 days before entering the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia.
Question 4
Deficiency of what can cause glove and stocking sensory loss, depression, psychosis, memory loss and optic neuritis?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Vitamin B12
Question 5
What causes a purple line on the teeth?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Copper toxicity
Known as Corrigan’s Line – Sir Dominic John Corrigan (1802-1880)
FFFF
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five
Dr Neil Long BMBS FACEM FRCEM FRCPC. Emergency Physician at Kelowna hospital, British Columbia. Loves the misery of alpine climbing and working in austere environments (namely tertiary trauma centres). Supporter of FOAMed, lifelong education and trying to find that elusive peak performance.