1. Which of the following was first examined under a microscope that later led to the discovery of cells?
a) Honeycomb
b) Cork
c) Drosophila
d) Dead leaves
Explanation: In the 16th century, Robert Hooke first examined cork (part of barks of the trees) under a microscope. He saw it as a porous honeycomb like structure. He called these pores as cells.
2. Who was the first person to describe various forms of bacteria?
a) Robert Hooke
b) Schwann and Schleiden
c) Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
d) Peter
Explanation: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek from the Netherlands sold buttons and clothes to earn a living, in his spare time grinded glasses and constructed simple microscopes. He observed various forms of bacteria under the microscope which came from water in which pepper was soaked and scrapping of his teeth.
3. Who proposed that plant embryo arose from a single cell?
a) Matthias Schleiden
b) Theodor Schwann
c) Robert Hooke
d) Pasteur
Explanation: In 1838, German lawyer turned botanist Matthias Schleiden, proposed that plants were made of cells and that plant embryo arose from a single cell. Theodor Schwann, his colleague later proposed the cell theory.
4. Which of the following is a tenet of cell theory, as proposed by Theodor Schwann?
a) Cell can be seen with naked eyes
b) Only animals are composed of cells
c) Cell is the structural unit of life
d) Not all organisms have cells
Explanation: Theodor Schwann proposed the cell theory, tenets of which include all organisms are composed of one or more cells and cell is the structural unit of life.
5. Schleiden and Schwann believed that cells arise from non-cellular materials.
a) true
b) false
Explanation: Schleiden and Schwann’s ideas about the origin of life did not receive reverence because both of them agreed that cells could arise from non-cellular material.
6. Rudolf Virchow, a German pathologist proposed the ___________________
a) cell theory
b) first tenet of cell theory
c) second tenet of cell theory
d) third tenet of cell theory
Explanation: Rudolf Virchow proposed the third tenet of cell theory that said; cells can only arise by division from a pre-existing cell. This was perceived as a convincing case by the scientific society.
7. The cell theory consists of how many tenets?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
Explanation: The cell theory is based on three tenets. Two of these were proposed by Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann and the third tenet by Rudolf Virchow.
8. Which microscope was used by Anton van Leeuwenhoek?
a) single-lens
b) confocal microscope
c) double-lens
d) compound microscope
Explanation: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek used single-lens microscope which he constructed by himself. The biconvex lens used was capable of magnifying 270 times and a resolution of 1.35 micro-meters.
9. Parts of a cell can be isolated and cultured in a laboratory.
a) true
b) false
Explanation: Parts of a cell called cell organelles deteriorate if isolated from the whole cell and hence they cannot be cultured in vitro. Whole cells on the other hand can be cultured in a laboratory.
10. The first culture of human cells began in ________
a) 1851
b) 1951
c) 2000
d) 1780
Explanation: The first culture of human cells was performed by George and Martha Gey in 1951 at John Hopkins University in 1951. Henrietta Lacks donated these cells from her malignant tumor named – HeLa cells.