John Booss - To Catch a Virus

Cover image:Specter of death waiting over Panama (U. J. Keppler, 1904). Cover illustration for Puck , a political satire and humor magazine. ( See Figure 1 in chapter 1.) (Courtesy of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.)

Copyright © 2013 by ASM Press. ASM Press is a registered trademark of the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part or reused in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Disclaimer: To the best of the publisher’s knowledge, this publication provides information concerning the subject matter covered that is accurate as of the date of publication. The publisher is not providing legal, medical, or other professional services. Any reference herein to any specific commercial products, procedures, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favored status by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The views and opinions of the author(s) expressed in this publication do not necessarily state or reflect those of ASM, and they shall not be used to advertise or endorse any product.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Booss, John.

To catch a virus / John Booss, Marilyn J. August.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-55581-507-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

I. August, Marilyn J. II. American Society for Microbiology. III. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Virology—history. 2. History, 19th Century. 3. History, 20th Century.

4. History, 21st Century. 5. Virology—methods. 6. Virus Diseases—diagnosis.

7. Virus Diseases—history. QW 11.1]

616.9′101—dc23

2012035227

eISBN: 978-1-68367-352-1

doi:10.1128/9781555818586

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America

Address editorial correspondence to ASM Press, 1752 N St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036-2904, USA

Send orders to ASM Press, P.O. Box 605, Herndon, VA 20172, USA

Phone: 800-546-2416; 703-661-1593

Fax: 703-661-1501

E-mail: books@asmusa.org

Online: http://estore.asm.org

In tribute to Gueh-Djen (Edith) Hsiung, PhD, who is remembered for her pioneering contributions to the field of diagnostic virology, for training and inspiring generations of diagnostic virologists with her passion for virology, and for her social grace and generosity. (Courtesy of Zhe Zhao.)

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Preface

About the Authors

Chapter 1Fear or Terror on Every Countenance: Yellow Fever

Chapter 2Of Mice and Men: Animal Models of Viral Infection

Chapter 3Filling the Churchyard with Corpses: Smallpox and the Immune Response

Chapter 4What Can Be Seen: from Viral Inclusion Bodies to Electron Microscopy

Chapter 5The Turning Point: Cytopathic Effect in Tissue Culture

Chapter 6A Torrent of Viral Isolates: the Early Years of Diagnostic Virology

Chapter 7Imaging Viruses and Tagging Their Antigens

Chapter 8Immunological Memory: Ingenuity and Serendipity

Chapter 9To the Barricades: the Molecular Revolution

Appendix: Chapter Timelines

Index

Chapter 1

1 “Waiting.” Specter of death waiting over Panama

2 van Leeuwenhoek exhibits his microscopes for Catherine of England

3 Robert Koch

4 Martinus Beijerinck

5 Henry Rose Carter

6 George Miller Sternberg

7 The four members of the Yellow Fever Commission

Chapter 2

1 “Mad Dog,” caricature of a rabid dog

2 Louis Pasteur

3 “An inoculation for hydrophobia”

4 Karl Landsteiner

5 “Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases,” World War II poster

6 “L’influenza à Paris,” cover of “Le Petit Parisien”

Chapter 3

1 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, in a Turkish embellished costume

2 Edward Jenner

3 “Triomphe de la Petite Verole” (Triumph of Smallpox), caricature

4 Elie Metchnikoff

5 Jules Bordet

6 Complement fixation diagram

7 Neutralization assay in tissue culture, diagram

8 Hemadsorption in tissue culture

Chapter 4

1Caricature of Rudolf Virchow

2An 1859 advertisement for achromatic microscopes

3“Kill the mad dog,” Indian rabies poster

4Negri bodies in brain

5Varicella-zoster virus inclusions

6Tzanck smear

7Cytomegalovirus inclusions

8Bodo von Borries and Ernst Ruska

9Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska

10Helmut Ruska

11Electron micrograph of poxvirus

12“1887−1987: a Century of Science for Health,” NIH poster

Chapter 5

1Ross Granville Harrison

2Thomas Rivers

3Franklin D. Roosevelt; his dog, Fala; and Ruthie Bie at Hill Top Cottage

4“Your gifts did this for me,” polio fundraising poster

5Frederick Robbins

6Cytopathic effect resulting from CMV replication

7Colonel Harry Plotz

8Joseph Edwin Smadel

9Maurice Hilleman

10Edwin Herman Lennette

Chapter 6

1Werner and Gertrude Henle

2G.-D. Hsiung, Yale University

3G.-D. Hsiung with the diagnostic virology class

4Chen Pien Li and Morris Schaeffer

5Walter Dowdle

6Charles Armstrong

7Robert J. Huebner and a prize Angus bull

8Robert J. Huebner and Wallace Rowe

9Robert Chanock and Robert J. Huebner

10Coronavirus

Chapter 7

1Sydney Brenner

2Robert Horne

3The first electron micrographs of negatively stained bacteriophages