Question 1

What is the most important medical discovery in history?

Accepted Answer

While debated, many medical historians consider the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 to be the most important medical breakthrough. Antibiotics have saved an estimated 200+ million lives. Vaccination (starting with Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine in 1796) is another strong contender.

Question 2

When was the first successful organ transplant?

Accepted Answer

The first successful organ transplant was a kidney transplant performed by Dr. Joseph Murray in Boston in 1954. The donor and recipient were identical twins, which avoided rejection issues. Murray later won the Nobel Prize for this work.

Question 3

What are mRNA vaccines?

Accepted Answer

mRNA vaccines use messenger RNA to instruct cells to produce a protein that triggers an immune response. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were the first widely used mRNA vaccines, developed with remarkable speed during the pandemic based on decades of prior research.

About the Medical Breakthroughs Quiz