Biotechnology is a rapidly growing field that combines biology and technology to create innovative solutions to a variety of problems. From developing new medicines and treatments to improving crop yields and protecting the environment, biotechnology has the potential to transform the world and make a positive impact on the lives of people around the world. Biotechnology trivia questions are a great way to test your knowledge of this exciting field and to learn more about its history, applications, and future possibilities.
This list of biotechnology trivia questions covers a wide range of topics and is designed to challenge your understanding of the field. From the earliest developments in biotechnology to the latest breakthroughs, this list of questions is sure to be both educational and entertaining.
Whether you're a biotechnology student, a professional, or simply someone who is interested in learning more about this exciting field, this list of biotechnology trivia questions is sure to provide you with hours of enjoyment and learning. So why not put your knowledge to the test and see how you fare? Let's explore the fascinating world of biotechnology and see how much you really know.
81 Biotechnology Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- In the world of appropriate ticker symbols, $MRNA on the NASDAQ represents which biotechnology company and vaccine developer who used MRNA technology to compete against Pfizer-BioNTech to bring a product to mitigate COVID-19 to market?
Answer: Moderna
- In 2000, Intuitive Surgical Company launched a robotic surgical system to assist surgeons with everything from prostate removals to heart valve repairs. The system was named after which famous artist who was known for his anatomical drawings and a portrait of a smirking lady?
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
- Placed in the chest to monitor and correct abnormal heart rhythms, the medical device known as an "ICD" is short for "implantable cardioverter" WHAT?
Answer: Defibrillator
- Announced in 2020, the program AlphaFold 2 program became record-settingly good at using AI algorithms to accurately predict the structure of what biomolecules?
Answer: Proteins
- The flu shot is recommended by the WHO and CDC for yearly vaccination for nearly all people over the age of six months. What animal's eggs are often used to produce this vaccine each year?
Answer: Hen / Chicken
- Though its original iteration was "monoaural" and wooden, it's now seen with medical professionals worldwide and nearly always is biaural (that is, both ears are used.) What is it?
Answer: Stethoscope
- Biopharming is the process of producing edible pharmaceuticals in plants and domestic animals, such as what “V” medical method of causing a person to develop antibodies against a disease without direct exposure to that illness?
Answer: Vaccine
- In 1974, Rudolf Jaenisch created the first GM animal when, to use them to study cancer and neurological diseases, he inserted foreign DNA into what mammal?
Answer: A mouse
- A nephrologist is a doctor who specializes in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases affecting what organ?
Answer: Kidneys
- What medical device includes the Latin word for “cloud” and has the ability to evaporate liquid medication into mist to enable users to inhale it into their lungs?
Answer: Nebulizer
- Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, also known as a DEXA scan, is frequently used to measure the density of what material in the body?
Answer: Bone
- A glucometer can be used by people with diabetes to check their blood sugar levels. What’s the medical term for blood sugar?
Answer: Glucose
- Developed at MIT and at Boston Dynamics, Spot is a contact-free robot who helps with basic patient care and is mounted on a body with what guessable number of legs?
Answer: Four
- First performed by physician Raymond Damadian in 1977, MRI is short for what radiology technique which uses scanners with strong magnetic fields to create anatomical images of the physiological processes of the body?
Answer: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- COVID-19 revived the near obsolete Drinker Tank, popular polio-era negative pressure ventilators better known by what metallic name?
Answer: Iron Lung
- Played by LeVar Burton, Lieutenant Geordi La Forge wore a VISOR, a curved device worn over the face like sunglasses, to restore his vision on which TV series in the "Star Trek" franchise?
Answer: The Next Generation
- Anne Wojcicki co-founded and currently is CEO of what privately genomics and biotechnology company that won Time Magazine's "Invention of the Year" award in in 2008 for offering the first at-home autosomal DNA test for ancestral purposes?
Answer: 23andMe
- "Keyhole" is another name for minimally invasive surgery known by what L-word that roughly mean "seeing a flank"?
Answer: Laparoscopy
- Declared by medical device manufacturers in each market where they plan to sell a new product, the intellectual-property acronym FTO stands for "freedom to" do what?
Answer: Operate
- The Kerry biopharmaceutical brand is leader in what “N” concept as it applies to cells? It is the scientific analysis of how food provides cells with life.
Answer: Nutrition
- Lixte is a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering drugs and more effective treatments for what endemic “C” disease?
Answer: Cancer
- What does the “C” in cDNA stand for? (Hint: It’s a homophone for an adjective that means you like telling people what you like about them).
Answer: Complementary
- A colposcope is used to look in the vagina up to which organ that makes up the lower part of the uterus?
Answer: Cervix
- Which term that starts with “bio” generally refers to materials used to make things like implants and prosthetics that work with the body and are not toxic to it?
Answer: Biocompatible
- If the star of the "Mission: Impossible" movies takes a nasty spill, he might get a CT scan. The C stands for "Computed," and what does the T stand for?
Answer: Tomography
- In the medical field, what is the name for a tube typically made of plastic or metal that is inserted into the lumen of a vessel or duct with the goal of keeping a passageway open?
Answer: Stent
- In October 2020, a San Francisco-based company named Whisper raised $35 million in Series B funding. Coincidentally, Quiet Ventures led the fundraising round for Whisper and the company is known as a manufacturer of what piece of medical technology?
Answer: Hearing aids
- The robot "Flippy" produced and sold by Miso Robotics is primarily sold to aid in the specific practice of preparing what item? The robot became commercially available for $30,000 in October 2020.
Answer: Burgers
- Blood-forming stem cells are important in cancer treatments because they form red blood cells, white blood cells, and what clotty things?
Answer: Platelets
- In 2011, a Swedish university hospital performed the world's first transplant operation using a synthetic organ that was fully grown in a laboratory. What organ, also known as a windpipe, did they successfully transplant?
Answer: Trachea
- "What is your position on the role of government in supporting innovation in the field of biotechnology?" kicks off the debate between Will Ferrell's Frank "The Tank" Ricard and James Carville in what 2003 fraternity comedy?
Answer: Old School
- Used to amplify RNA targets, the RT-PCR method stands for "reverse transcription polymerase chain" WHAT?
Answer: Reaction
- What “M” cancer center is a nonprofit located in Tampa, Florida? Established in 1981 by the Florida legislature, it opened on the USF campus in 1986.
Answer: Moffitt Cancer Center
- What author of both popular science and science fiction laid out his “Three Rules of Robotics” in 1942, explaining how robots could protect humans and themselves, which influenced later real-world robot makers. He expounded on these rules in many short stories, including his “I, Robot” collection.
Answer: Isaac Asimov
- Often implanted in people who have had cataract surgery, a "pseudophakos" is an artificial replacement for what part of the eye?
Answer: Lens
- Usually including an adjustable cuff and a rubber tube, the device called a sphygmomanometer takes what important measurement?
Answer: Blood pressure
- What “D” technique is electrically induced heat, often used during surgery, in order to help maintain blood flow and prevent excessive bleeding? It gets its one word name from greek words literally meaning “heating through.”
Answer: Diathermy
- What word follows “Wartenberg” in the alliterative name of a medical device designed to test a patient’s sensitivity as it is rolled across their skin?
Answer: Wheel
- QuantBioRes, a company that is experimenting with electromagnetic resonance to treat viruses, acquired in 2022 a major shareholder in what Serbian tennis player, winner of several Grand Slam titles in the 2010s?
Answer: Novak Djokovic
- The vaccine codenamed AZD1222 was developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with which multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company?
Answer: AstraZeneca
- The gene gun, a device used to infuse a new organism with genetic material that is then incorporated into the organism’s DNA, was invented by research scientists at what “C” Ivy League university, located in Ithaca, New York?
Answer: Cornell University
- What “N” Biotechnology company seeks to transform the field of proteomics by democratizing access to the proteome? Its name is the same as Nemo’s ship in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Answer: Nautilus Biotechnology
- Named for its three functions of sensing, recording, and computing, what handheld device is used by doctors in the "Star Trek" franchise to diagnose medical conditions?
Answer: Tricorder
- ELISA is a common way to test for antibodies in a blood sample. The test wasn’t named after a lady—it’s actually an acronym. What does ELISA stand for?
Answer: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
- Medical technology has made use of the natural light-up ability of some creatures (like fireflies) for everything from tests to imaging scans. What is the term for the chemical reaction that happens between an enzyme called luciferase and oxygen?
Answer: Bioluminescence
- Which U.S.-based medical technology company headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan created the Mako™ Robotic Arm?
Answer: Stryker
- Which term applies to a drug delivery method, like a patch, that is placed on the skin?
Answer: Transdermal
- Which federal agency in the U.S. is tasked with reviewing and approving medical devices, which includes putting them into one of three classification categories based on how invasive they are and how much influence they could have on a patient’s health?
Answer: Food and Drug Administration
- You might have to “focus and think hard” on this one. Which C-word is a kind of medical device that filters out the nitrogen from the air in a room, then supplies the purified oxygen to a patient through a cannula or mask?
Answer: Concentrator
- Transfection is the process of putting DNA or RNA into cells artificially. Which compounds are DNA and RNA classes of?
Answer: Nucleic acids
- What is the medical term for the thin tubes placed in a patient’s body to deliver or remove something? For example, putting a tube in their nose to give them oxygen.
Answer: Cannula
- Which M-term describes the process where the DNA of an organism changes either naturally (spontaneously) or intentionally (for example, in a lab)?
Answer: Mutagenesis
- Which A-word refers to something that’s added to a treatment to enhance it—for example, adding aluminum hydroxide to a vaccine to boost the immune system response it prompts?
Answer: Adjuvant
- Hemodialysis filters blood through a dialyzer, which is basically like an artificial version of which organ?
Answer: Kidney
- UNOS, a scientific and medical non-profit based in Richmond's Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, administers the United States' "network" for "sharing" what, represented by the "O" in the acronym?
Answer: Organs
- What “V” biotech startup, started in Boston in 2011, is working on a platform of stability to allow for global delivery of vaccines? Their name is fittingly a spin on a shorthand of the word “vaccine.”
Answer: Vaxess Technologies
- Which interdisciplinary field is concerned with the computational interrogation of large-scale biological data, typically as applied to molecular genetics and genomics? One-word answer required.
Answer: Bioinformatics
- Founded in 2009 to combine expertise in fuels and industrial biotechnology, Butamax is a joint venture between BP and what Delaware-based chemical company?
Answer: DuPont
- Ancient Chinese doctors used onion stalks to perform the function of what tube, used to remove fluids from a body cavity?
Answer: Catheter
- Green biotechnology refers to biotechnology used in the environmental sector, whereas what color is used to describe biotechnology used in the medical and pharma field?
Answer: Red
- Juliano Pinto is a paraplegic man who symbolically "kicked off" an event in WHAT COUNTRY in 2014 by using a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton?
Answer: Brazil (World Cup)
- The field workers for the FDA are often known as "Investigators" but they have a more technical name abbreviated as CSOs. What does this initialism stand for? These are the folks that inspect production facilities, illnesses, and review cases of medical devices or drugs.
Answer: Consumer Safety Officers
- Lonza Group AG is a multinational chemical and biotechnology company headquartered in Basel, a city in what European country? It was established in the late 19th century.
Answer: Switzerland
- The term "robot" was introduced in what form of literature (novel, play, short story, article, book, poem) by Czech writer, Karel Capek, in 1920?
Answer: Play
- Joseph F. Engelberger, considered the "Father of Robotics," created the world's first industrial robot in 1961, which was used on the assembly line for what automotive company?
Answer: General Motors
- A patient with type 1 diabetes may have a wearable device that automatically delivers the medicine that helps keep their blood sugar in check, which is necessary for their survival. The technical name is “continuous subcutaneous insulin therapy,” but what’s the common term for the device?
Answer: Insulin pump
- Which R-word related to recovering from an injury or illness applies to robots or other such devices that could be used by professionals like physical therapists to aid a patient with their exercises or as mobility aids (for example, exoskeletons)?
Answer: Rehabilitation
- What is the five-letter "B" word that is used to refer to a dosage of fast-acting insulin that is often given via the continuously attached "pump" device worn by some diabetics?
Answer: Bolus
- RoboCop, meet RoboDoc! In 1985, surgeons in California performed the first-ever robot-assisted surgery. Which organ did they use the robot to probe?
Answer: The brain
- What medical “D”evice company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Diego, California, manufactures blood glucose monitors for diabetes management?
Answer: Dexcom
- What mosquito-borne tropical disease infects up to 500 million people per year, is typically transmitted by the Aedes aegypti, has the alternate name "breakbone fever," and is referred to in a Jin Dynasty Chinese encyclopedia as "water poison"?
Answer: Dengue Fever
- Which “E” word describes the lab technique that uses an electrical current to separate molecules by size (for example, in DNA or RNA)?
Answer: Electrophoresis
- Which field of biotechnology involves breeding crops to be resistant to pests—for example, through genetic modification?
Answer: Agricultural
- Baha hearing devices are good for more than the beach, since Baha is just an acronym for WHAT-anchored hearing aids?
Answer: Bone
- Considered critical components of nanotechnology, what is the term for liquids (and their manipulation for scientific users) that are geometrically constrained to sub-millimeter sizes?
Answer: Microfluids
- If you've got some hollow needles filled with cold fluid meant to destroy cancerous fluid, you're performing what cancer treatment that starts with "C"?
Answer: Cryoablation
- Combining an integrated image guidance system and a linear accelerator on a robotic manipulator, what is the name of the medical robot invented by John Adler at Stanford and released by Accuray Incorporated? The dangerous-sounding device is frequently used for tumor removal and other oncological procedures.
Answer: CyberKnife
- What was the name of the color digital camera device, similar to a webcam, for the PlayStation 2? Released in 2003, the 6-letter device used computer vision and gesture recognition to allow players to interact with games.
Answer: EyeToy
- In June 2021, Medtronic announced a successful prostatectomy performed by their robotic assisted surgical system with what same name as an annual science fiction literary award?
Answer: Hugo
- What “S” biotech company, started in Seattle, WA in 2018, is using engineered cells to repair damaged cells and genes to fight disease? Its name is the Arabic word for “year.”
Answer: Sana Biotechnology
- Biotech scientists at Germany's Max Planck Institute have experimented with using what stimulating chiral alkaloid as a defensive substance against herbivorous insects? This substance is often associated with human usage in various forms.
Answer: Nicotine
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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