BMSC 210 -Midterm 1 Test Questions
with All Correct Answers 2026 Updated.
What are some properties of all cells? - Answer Growth, metabolism, and evolution
What are properties of some cells? - Answer differentiation, communication, genetic
exchange, motility
What domain of life do microorganisms belong to? - Answer Eukarya
How did the diversity of life arise? - Answer Through evolution
Which encoding gene was/is slow to evolve? - Answer The gene encoding the small ribosomal
subunit in both eukarya (18S) and Bacteria/Archaea (16S)
Which domain is archaea most closely related to? - Answer Eukarya
How is the phylogenetic tree created? - Answer By analyzing DNA sequences from each
organism
Which two domains of life are prokaryotic? - Answer Bacteria and Archaea
What were the ancestors of multicellular organisms? - Answer Eukaryotic microorganisms
What were the first two domains that diverged from LUCA? - Answer Bacteria and Archaea
What did Archaea diverge into? - Answer Eukarya and Archaea
What did Robert Hooke do and when? - Answer Wrote the first book devoted to microscopic
observations in 1665
What did Anton van Leeuwenhoek do and when? - Answer He was the first to see bacteria in
1676
What did Ferdinand Cohn do and when? - Answer He was the first to see bacterial
endospores, around the 1850s
,What did Louis Pasteur do and when? - Answer Disproved spontaneous generation theory in
1864
-also developed vaccines for rabies, anthrax, and chicken cholera, around 1885
What did Pasteur use to disprove spontaneous generation theory? - Answer A swan shaped
flask
What is number one of Koch's postulates? - Answer The suspected pathogen must be present
in everything with the disease and absent from healthy animals
What is number two of Koch's postulates? - Answer The suspected pathogen must be grown
in a pure culture
What is number three of Koch's postulates? - Answer The pure culture from the suspected
pathogen must cause disease in a healthy animal
What is number four of Koch's postulates? - Answer The suspected pathogen must be
reisolated and shown to be the same as the original
What is one of the effects of studying microbes? - Answer Deaths from infectious diseases
have drastically decreased
What does staining a microscope slide do? - Answer Improves contrast between features
What is the power of light microscopy limited by? - Answer Resolution
What is resolution? - Answer The ability to distinguish between two adjacent objects
What is resolution determined by? - Answer The wavelength of light used (inversely
proportional) and the numerical aperture of the lens
What does shorter wavelength equal? - Answer Better resolution
What is the limit of resolution of light microscopy? - Answer 0.2 micrometers
What does a compound microscope use to illuminate cells? - Answer Visible light
, How are specimens visualized in bright field microcopy? - Answer Because of differences in
contrast (density) between specimen and surroundings
What two sets of lenses form the image? - Answer The objective and ocular lens
How does phase contrast microscopy improve contrast? - Answer By amplifying differences
between the refractive index of the cell and the surroundings
What doesn't phase contrast microscopy require? - Answer A stain, allowing visualization of
live samples
What is the image of phase contrast microscopy? - Answer Dark cells on a light background
Where does the light reach the specimen from in dark field microscopy? - Answer It reaches
the specimen from the sides and then is scattered
What is the image of in dark field microscopy? - Answer Light cells on a dark background
What is dark field microscopy good for observing? - Answer Motility (movement)t
What is fluorescence microscopy used for? - Answer To visualize specimens that fluoresce,
either naturally or after they have been stained with a fluorescent dye.
In what way would you use fluorescent microscopy? - Answer Counting the number of
bacteria in a natural sample
What does differential interference contrast microscopy use to create images? - Answer A
polarizer to create two distinct beams of polarized light
What type of image does differential interference contrast microscopy create? - Answer A 3-D
one
What structures would you visualize under differential interference contrast microscopy? -
Answer Endospores, vacuoles, and granules
How does atomic force microscopy generate an image? - Answer By placing a stylus close to a
specimen and having a computer produce an images from the stylus's data
with All Correct Answers 2026 Updated.
What are some properties of all cells? - Answer Growth, metabolism, and evolution
What are properties of some cells? - Answer differentiation, communication, genetic
exchange, motility
What domain of life do microorganisms belong to? - Answer Eukarya
How did the diversity of life arise? - Answer Through evolution
Which encoding gene was/is slow to evolve? - Answer The gene encoding the small ribosomal
subunit in both eukarya (18S) and Bacteria/Archaea (16S)
Which domain is archaea most closely related to? - Answer Eukarya
How is the phylogenetic tree created? - Answer By analyzing DNA sequences from each
organism
Which two domains of life are prokaryotic? - Answer Bacteria and Archaea
What were the ancestors of multicellular organisms? - Answer Eukaryotic microorganisms
What were the first two domains that diverged from LUCA? - Answer Bacteria and Archaea
What did Archaea diverge into? - Answer Eukarya and Archaea
What did Robert Hooke do and when? - Answer Wrote the first book devoted to microscopic
observations in 1665
What did Anton van Leeuwenhoek do and when? - Answer He was the first to see bacteria in
1676
What did Ferdinand Cohn do and when? - Answer He was the first to see bacterial
endospores, around the 1850s
,What did Louis Pasteur do and when? - Answer Disproved spontaneous generation theory in
1864
-also developed vaccines for rabies, anthrax, and chicken cholera, around 1885
What did Pasteur use to disprove spontaneous generation theory? - Answer A swan shaped
flask
What is number one of Koch's postulates? - Answer The suspected pathogen must be present
in everything with the disease and absent from healthy animals
What is number two of Koch's postulates? - Answer The suspected pathogen must be grown
in a pure culture
What is number three of Koch's postulates? - Answer The pure culture from the suspected
pathogen must cause disease in a healthy animal
What is number four of Koch's postulates? - Answer The suspected pathogen must be
reisolated and shown to be the same as the original
What is one of the effects of studying microbes? - Answer Deaths from infectious diseases
have drastically decreased
What does staining a microscope slide do? - Answer Improves contrast between features
What is the power of light microscopy limited by? - Answer Resolution
What is resolution? - Answer The ability to distinguish between two adjacent objects
What is resolution determined by? - Answer The wavelength of light used (inversely
proportional) and the numerical aperture of the lens
What does shorter wavelength equal? - Answer Better resolution
What is the limit of resolution of light microscopy? - Answer 0.2 micrometers
What does a compound microscope use to illuminate cells? - Answer Visible light
, How are specimens visualized in bright field microcopy? - Answer Because of differences in
contrast (density) between specimen and surroundings
What two sets of lenses form the image? - Answer The objective and ocular lens
How does phase contrast microscopy improve contrast? - Answer By amplifying differences
between the refractive index of the cell and the surroundings
What doesn't phase contrast microscopy require? - Answer A stain, allowing visualization of
live samples
What is the image of phase contrast microscopy? - Answer Dark cells on a light background
Where does the light reach the specimen from in dark field microscopy? - Answer It reaches
the specimen from the sides and then is scattered
What is the image of in dark field microscopy? - Answer Light cells on a dark background
What is dark field microscopy good for observing? - Answer Motility (movement)t
What is fluorescence microscopy used for? - Answer To visualize specimens that fluoresce,
either naturally or after they have been stained with a fluorescent dye.
In what way would you use fluorescent microscopy? - Answer Counting the number of
bacteria in a natural sample
What does differential interference contrast microscopy use to create images? - Answer A
polarizer to create two distinct beams of polarized light
What type of image does differential interference contrast microscopy create? - Answer A 3-D
one
What structures would you visualize under differential interference contrast microscopy? -
Answer Endospores, vacuoles, and granules
How does atomic force microscopy generate an image? - Answer By placing a stylus close to a
specimen and having a computer produce an images from the stylus's data
