The birth of virology.
1997; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 71; Issue: 1/2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1023/a
ISSN1572-9699
Autores Tópico(s)Zoonotic diseases and public health
ResumoThis quote is from Cicero’s ‘De Amicitia’ (23, 87) — I happen to remember it from my days at school, and it comes in conveniently to start a talk on the birth of virology, my occupation since three decades. In Cicero’s quote it is said of an intransigent person that she ‘...still cannot be without somebody where to spit out the venom of one’s own bitterness’ (Horzinek 1995). Throughout antiquity ‘virus’ was a common, general term to designate anything unpleasant and dangerous, from snake and scorpion poison to disease agents, viscous fluids from plants and animals, semen, the salty taste of sea water, even bad odour or stench (Klotz 1857). The word probably originated in Sanskrit and is related to German ‘Wiesel’, English ‘weasel’, French ‘vison’, all names for an animal that — as mustellids do — sprays a strong smelling fluid from its peri-anal glands when threatened. In this Centennial’s programme it will be my task to illustrate the role Martinus Willem Beijerinck has played in defining the nature of a group of novel disease agents, of ‘contagia’, as he used to call them. He thereby indeed gave birth to a new discipline. Virology keeps attracting young scientists, with World Congresses of some 2000 participants every 3 years and an estimated tenfold number working in academia, in hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, in industry. Virology has played a pivotal role in addressing public health issues, in solving animal and plant production problems and in the biological sciences in general. Of the Nobel Prizes between 1950 and 1980 in physiology/medicine, 13 were awarded to virologists, and several more to scientists that used viruses as tools (Table 1). Consequently, virology should occupy quite a prominent position in microbiological thinking, and it does world-wide. However, in paraphrasing the biblical ‘A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country’ (New Testament; St. Matthew Chapter 13, Verse 57) concerning the hero we celebrate today it should read: ‘..., not even in his own country’. Beijerinck’s importance for virology was barely mentioned by the ‘NRC Handelsblad’, a leading Dutch newspaper which ran a 1/2 page article on him (November 30, 1995) at the occasion of this Centennial. Our Calvinist heritage still shows. I have the privilege of compensating for this omission. Any centenary is welcomed as an opportunity to look back and celebrate. With respect to virology, the ambiguity of this approach becomes obvious when reviewing recent and not-so-recent commemorations:
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