Supplemental Reading-The Demon in the Freezer
Honors Biology
On your own paper, please type your answers to the following questions. Remember, you are graded
on the depth to which you answer the questions, that your answers are grammatically correct, and
that you answer in complete sentences. When you are finished, please print and complete the
“Supplemental Verification Form” and staple it to your answers before you hand them in.
1. Before this book starts, Preston includes a quote from Louis Pasteur: "Chance favors the prepared
mind." Was this an appropriate quote for this book?
2. Preston starts this book with the anthrax attacks of 2001. Do you think this was a good place to start
this story/book? Aside from anthrax and smallpox, Preston does not really talk about other viruses or
bacteria that may be used in biowarfare. Do you think he should have talked about other potential
bioweapons?
3. Did you find the author's switching between anthrax and smallpox to be somewhat disjointed? Did
you think it made sense for Preston to include the information on anthrax, even though the book's
main focus was smallpox?
4. Where does smallpox still reside in the world?
5. Describe the differences between inhalation anthrax and contact anthrax.
6. Compare smallpox symptoms with anthrax symptoms.
7. Describe the process in which smallpox was eliminated.
8. Why are the Russians still doing research with smallpox in the late 1990s?
9. List the benefits and detriments of being a scientist for the CDC.
10. What was the result of the monkey experiments in the chapter The Demon’s Eyes?
11. What was different about the anthrax found in the letter addressed to Tom Daschle?
12. Describe the process of recombinant genetics in creating a vaccine resistant strain of a virus.
13. The eradication of smallpox required worldwide coordination. Given world politics, how do you think
this worldwide cooperation was possible? Would worldwide cooperation like this be possible today
(ex. If it was thought that HIV could be eradicated)?
14. How much of a bioterrorist threat do you think smallpox is today? Given the quick spread of smallpox
and the global nature of today's world, if it were to be used as a bioweapon, wouldn't the outbreak also
likely spread to the country of origin? How could a terrorist prevent the ultimate destruction of their
own country and/or people?
15. 6. Should the remaining stocks of smallpox have been destroyed? How do you feel about research
being done on smallpox, even after it was eradicated, to find a more suitable human vaccine?
16. Did you like this book? Why or why not?
17. What did you learn about the scientific process by reading this book?