Which statement correctly pairs an inventor with a medical milestone?

• A. Michael DeBakey performed the first coronary artery bypass operation.
• B. Millie Hughes-Fulford invented the artificial heart.
• C. Walter Cunningham invented the reaper.
• D. Eli Whitney designed the first electric light bulb.

Answer: (A)

Understanding a major advancement in heart surgery and who helped make it real is what this question is getting at. Coronary artery bypass grafting creates new routes for blood to reach the heart muscle when arteries are blocked, dramatically improving outcomes for people with coronary artery disease. Michael DeBakey was a pioneering heart surgeon who helped develop and perform early bypass procedures, pushing this life-saving technique from concept toward standard care. That connection—DeBakey’s work advancing bypass surgery—fits the idea of a medical milestone and the inventor behind it.

The other options mix up fields or misattribute milestones: Millie Hughes-Fulford is known for space biology rather than inventing an artificial heart; Walter Cunningham was an astronaut, not an inventor of medical equipment; the reaper was developed by Cyrus McCormick, and Eli Whitney designed the cotton gin, not the electric light bulb.