These peculiar life forms have likely been around as long as, or longer than, life on this planet. Viruses can make thousands of copies in one round of replication.
In living organisms, cells divide in multiple rounds, one to two to four to eight. Some scientists consider viruses not fully dead, because they can copy themselves, but not fully living, either, because they need a host cell to help them do it. Viruses are the most abundant biological entity on Earth, but we struggle to categorize them. Like many of my teenage dreams, that didn’t come true, but I ended up pursuing biochemistry-and I found my way back to viruses when I started my Ph.D., through what was supposed to be a “quick and easy” research project on bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. I decided then that I’d grow up to be a virologist. Preston’s descriptions of scientists in hazmat suits and patients vomiting out their dark, bloody insides fascinated me.
I was 14 years old when I first read The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, a 1994 best seller detailing the horrors of hemorrhagic fever viruses like Ebola.
