A long-standing, if erratic, tradition of the annual retrovirus meeting at Cold Spring Harbor is the retrotrivia quiz, testing the ability of the assembled retrovirologists to remember or discover those memorable, but trivial, events that have made the field so special over the years. Here is the opportunity to test your wits and your memory against the editors in a collection of some of the best of the trivia of the last few decades. Have fun! If you get stuck, answers can be found at the Cold Spring Harbor web site (http://www.cshl.org/).

1.

a = b + __

a.

Fill in the blank.

b.

By what name do we now know the answer?

2.

By what names were the following viral oncogenes first known?

a.

mos

b.

ras

c.

fes

d.

fps

e.

fms

f.

yes

3.

Who coined the term “reverse transcriptase?”

4.

Howard Temin's paper describing reverse transcriptase appeared in Nature in June 1970.

a.

What paper was immediately before it?

b.

What two things were unusual about the publication of this paper?

6.

Name five human “rumor” viruses.

7.

xxx Moore, not a retrovirologist, nevertheless made a significant contribution to retrovirology.

a.

Specifically, what did he contribute?

b.

What eventually came from it?

c.

How did he reward those responsible for immortalizing him in this way?

5.

Among the scientists prominently connected with this book, there are a number of mentor-trainee pairs, and more than one three-generation connection. Match them up.

Scientist

  Mentor of:

a.

John Coffin____

b.

Steve Hughes____

c.

Harold Varmus____

d.

David Baltimore____

e.

Howard Temin____

f.

Peter Vogt____

g.

Volker Vogt____

h.

Eric Hunter____

i.

Steve Goff____

j.

Pat Brown____

l.

Barbara Graves____

m.

Alan Rabson____

n.

Ron Swanstrom____

o.

John Wills____

p.

Jef Boeke____

q.

Jonathan Stoye____

r.

Dusty Miller____

s.

Paul Jolicoeur____

t.

Naomi Rosenberg____

u.

Ron Desrosiers____

v.

Tony Fauci____

w.

Hung Fan____

x.

Emilio Emini____

y.

Gerry Myers____

z.

Chris Petropolous____

zz.

None of the above

8.

By what names do we now know the following retroviral genes or proteins?

a.

art/trs.

b.

largagtin

c.

pX

d.

x-lor

e.

interspec

f.

orf

g.

sor

h.

gcsa

i.

RDDP

9.

a.

What was PKL reported to be?

b.

What was it really?

c.

What CSH memory is evoked by this question?

10.

Consider the R protein.

a.

What is it really?

b.

What well-known technique was invented to analyze it?

11.

Identify the following phenomena, and give the retroviral cause:

a.

Mls-1

b.

Gix

c.

Ie

d.

RIF

12.

“One sick chicken, ___ Nobel prizes.”

a.

Fill in the blank.

b.

What should the number be now?

c.

Who said this?

d.

What kind of chicken was it?

e.

What made it sick?

13.

Consider the c region

a.

What do we call it now?

b.

Why was it named this?

c.

Who named it?

d.

What are cn and cx?

14.

Explain the difference between src and sarc.

15.

In a word, the longest retroviral disease.

16.

Expand the abbreviations.

a.

FOCMA

b.

FMR

c.

chf

d.

GRID

e.

SVCP

17.

a.

Discuss the significance of the Parsee women.

b.

What is a simultaneous detection assay?

18.

Relate the following proteins or peptides to retrovirology. Who made each famous?

a.

Peptide T

b.

CD26

c.

TCGF

d.

Neuroleukin

19.

What is/was (also give the name of the person associated with each) a

a.

protovirus?

b.

virogene?

20.

What three names did Howard Temin use for retroviruses. Hint: none of them caught on.

Extra credit: What year was the first retrotrivia quiz?