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EUKARYOTE VIRAL CLASSIFICATION. “This assemblage of virus families is known as nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDV), or more recently, the proposed order “Megavirales.”.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

EUKARYOTIC DNA VIRUSES. “By far the largest and most common group of DNA viruses in eukaryotes consists of seven families of large viruses (including giant mimiviruses and pandoraviruses, with genomes in the Mb range) that share a common viral ancestry, as indicated by the conservation of approximately 50 (inferred) ancestral genes.” https://lnkd.in/eU7uHHB View in LinkedIn

EUKARYOTIC VIRUSES. “Altogether, eukaryotes are hosts to 18 recognized families of dsDNA viruses that infect a broad spectrum of unicellular and multicellular organisms, and many unclassified viruses, spanning almost the entire range of viral genome sizes, from approximately 4 kb to almost 2.5 Mb.” https://lnkd.in/eU7uHHB View in LinkedIn

EUKARYOTIC VIRAL PARASITE . “Compared to RNA viruses and retroelements, ssDNA and dsDNA viruses and mobile elements are less diverse and less abundant in eukaryotes, although both of these classes of selfish elements have been found in most eukaryotes.” https://lnkd.in/eU7uHHB View in LinkedIn

PRISONER TRIALS. “Lady Montague had Charles Maitland inoculate her 4-year-old daughter in the presence of physicians of the royal court. Charles Maitland was then granted the royal license to perform a trial of variolation on six prisoners in Newgate on August 9, 1721. The prisoners were granted the king's favor if they submitted to this experiment.” https://lnkd.in/eQfnZZv View in LinkedIn

EUKARYOTIC HOSTS. “In stark contrast to bacteria and archaea, eukaryotes are hosts to numerous, enormously diverse RNA viruses, as well as retroelements and retro-viruses.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

FIRST WESTERN ADVOCATE. “In 1715, Montagu had gone through her own bout of smallpox, and had been disfigured as a result. After learning about inoculation during her time in Turkey, she was determined to protect her six-year-old son from the disease through inoculation.” The vaccination occurred on March 1718, followed also successfully with her four year old daughter. https://lnkd.in/ezcRH6N View in LinkedIn

PROKARYOTIC HOSTS. “In prokaryotes, the great majority of viruses have dsDNA genomes, mostly within the range of 10–100 kb. The second most abundant class includes small ssDNA viruses. Retroelements comprise a small minority (no retroviruses are known), whereas RNA viruses are rare.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first of two weekend Fragments on a snippet of the history of the smallpox vaccine, the first to be successfully developed in the west. The attribution of the discovery to Jenner was clearly only a tiny part of a much bigger chain of observations and experiments worldwide, including its practice in the 10th century. What is very interesting is how, without the germ theory of diseases, or experimental methodology, various cultures came up with the same solution. And, without controlled preparations, there was clear immunity induced. View in LinkedIn

PARALLEL EVOLUTION OR MYTH? “The record shows that it was there that Jenner heard a dairymaid say, “I shall never have smallpox for I have had cowpox. I shall never have an ugly pockmarked face.” It fact, it was a common belief that dairymaids were in some way protected from smallpox.” https://lnkd.in/eQfnZZv View in LinkedIn