Microbes = Pokemon

The bulk of our first Microbes and Pathogenesis lecture was about Pokemon. I never really played Pokemon before, but now, I think I could be a formidable trainer. Well, maybe not formidable, but I've never learned more about Pokemon than those couple of minutes.

I guess if you think about it, Microbes are kind of like Pokemon, but really...there were at least 15 slides on Pokemon such as how Pokemon "pop out of the pokeballs." Then we went through lesson on how attacks are based on strengths/weaknesses, and that the key point is that the trainer is knowledge, and the journey is "of yourself, and the world." There were even final self-assessment questions (taken directly from lecture):

1. What are Pokemon?
2. What is a Pokeball?
3. Why do you "Gotta Catch-em All?"
4. How many different Pokemon species are there?
5. Pick one species of Pokemon. Describe its evolution. what important attacks did it gain through evolution?
6. why does every child between 3 and 10 drive their parents nuts by asking for more and more Pokemon cards?
7. How much money has Burger King made from its Pokemon kids meal promos?
8. Which Pokemon should you choose to battle an Ivysau? Explain your reasoning in detail.

Yup, that's what my $47k/year in tuition is for: Pokemon lessons. But in reality, if instead of Pokemon, you insert microbes/pathogens above, those questions actually make quite a lot of sense (even the ones about parents and maybe Burger King...).