Introduction to Viruses

The world of viruses is as diverse as it is large.

Ignored by humans since ancient time, viruses went on to cause many different types of diseases which were either diagnosed as (This was really looong ago!) being cursed or being possessed by a spirit.

Later, as science progressed, man discovered bacteria in 1676. "Cursed" or "Spiritual Possession" diseases were subsequently (and proudly might I add) blamed on these hot new microorganisms by prominent biologists.

It was only more than 200 years later, in 1884, that scientists finally accepted their misconception with the isolation of tobacco mosaic virus by French microbiologist Charles Chamberland.

With that vital discovery, scientists rapidly began to step into uncharted territory, fueling the growth of the science that is now known as virology.

Many major discoveries have been made since then, including developing the first virus images and discovering that viruses were almost entirely composed by protein.

Towards the end of the 20th century, armed with the knowledge of virus structure, scientists began analyzing all known viruses in a bid to classify them...