A Terrorist Mad Scientist Develops a New Blood-Borne Virus That

question 33

Multiple Choice

A terrorist mad scientist develops a new blood-borne virus that will completely shut down presentation of viral epitopes on MHC molecules in the cells it infects. He produces an internet video describing it and how it will be indestructible by CD8⁺ cytotoxic T-cells and will kill millions (if not billions) of people. The medical community quickly denounces and discredits his plan as impossible, and the whole thing is quickly forgotten-why?

• A) CD8⁺ T-cells are not the cells that are responsible for killing virally-infected cells. The terrorist mad scientist is a misinformed idiot.
• B) While CD8⁺ T-cells ARE important for eliminating a viral infection, they are not the ONLY things that are capable of doing so. Natural Killer cells can kill virally-infected cells that have shut down MHC antigen presentation, and interferons can assist in clearing virally-infected cells.
• C) A blood-borne virus would not be capable of rapidly infecting millions of people, due to its difficult mode of transmission.
• D) B-cells would be primed right away to produce complement proteins to destroy the virus. This would prevent cells from being infected with it in the first place. His plot would be foiled.
• E) While CD8⁺ T-cells ARE important for eliminating a viral infection, they are not the ONLY things that are capable of doing so. Natural Killer cells can kill virally-infected cells that have shut down MHC antigen presentation, and interferons can assist in clearing virally-infected cells AND a blood-borne virus would not be capable of rapidly infecting millions of people, due to its difficult mode of transmission.

---

Definitions:

Experimental Research

A systematic and scientific approach to research in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process.

Survey

A method of gathering information from a sample of individuals through questions to generalize findings to a larger population.

Experimentation

A method of scientific investigation involving the manipulation and controlled testing of variables to establish cause and effect relationships.

Correlational Research

A research method that examines the relationship between two or more variables to determine if a correlation exists.