Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics

Abstract: From the recognition by Ivanovski in 1892 that tobacco mosaic disease is caused and transmitted by fine pore filtrates [1], viruses have been isolated, characterized, identified and studied from animals, plants, protists, bacteria and even other viruses [2,3]. As human and global public health pathogens that can be highly contagious and have devastating morbidity and mortality consequences, viruses are the focus of much research. The difficult challenge has been to define and study a miniscule “being” with the appropriate tools. In the past, these tools often provided only low-resolution views. A first approach to studying an unknown virus is to know exactly its identity, and to place it into context of other related and non-related viruses. For human and public health, this is important as the identity may provide a course of action to limit the effects of the pathogen. [...]