| Chapter title |
Beijerinck's contribution to the virus concept--an introduction.
|
|---|---|
| Chapter number | 1 |
| Book title |
100 Years of Virology
|
| Published in |
Archives of virology Supplementum, January 1999
|
| DOI | 10.1007/978-3-7091-6425-9_1 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Book ISBNs |
978-3-21-183360-5, 978-3-70-916425-9
|
| Authors |
van Kammen, A, Kammen, A., Kammen, A. van |
| Abstract |
The existence of viruses was first recognized when certain pathogens were found to pass through filters that otherwise stop bacteria. Pasteur made such observations in 1887 with the pathogen of rabies, but he thought that the pathogen was a very subtle microbe. In 1886 Adolf Mayer studied the mosaic disease of tobacco plants. He was unable to observe the least trace of a microbe, but still assumed that the pathogen was a bacterium. In 1892 Iwanovsky demonstrated that tobacco mosaic was caused by an agent that passed through bacteria-proof filters but he insisted till the end of his life that the tobacco mosaic virus was a small bacterium. Similar observations were made by Loeffler and Frosch in 1898 on foot-and-mouth disease of cattle. Beijcrinck confirmed the filterability of tobacco mosaic virus but confirmed its properties in more detail and then, in 1898, firmly concluded that tobacco mosaic virus is not a microbe but a contagium vivum fluidum. His idea that a pathogen can be a soluble molecule that proliferates when it is part of the protoplasm of a living cell was revolutionary and new. This new concept has laid the foundation of virus research and directed further studies on the nature of viruses. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 3 | 33% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 11% |
| Unknown | 5 | 56% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 9 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 4% |
| Peru | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 22 | 92% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 6 | 25% |
| Researcher | 4 | 17% |
| Student > Bachelor | 3 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 3 | 13% |
| Professor | 2 | 8% |
| Other | 3 | 13% |
| Unknown | 3 | 13% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 8 | 33% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 17% |
| Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 3 | 13% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 2 | 8% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 3 | 13% |
| Unknown | 3 | 13% |