COVID-19, or the CoronavirusYes, these things have a name rooted in Ancient Greek, but they also hav
COVID-19, or the CoronavirusYes, these things have a name rooted in Ancient Greek, but they also have a discoverer, and someone who names them. In this case, the coronavirus was known and isolated as early as the 1930s, but it wasn’t until electron microscopes were utilized in the 1960s that scientists knew that they actually looked like. In this case, the scientist was June Almeida, a Scottish scientist only two years out of school who told virologist David Tyrell that using her technique she could provide images of the viruses he was studying. He sent samples (see left image above) and was able to identify many previously unidentified viruses. In 1966, Almeida produced images clear enough to identify characteristics specific enough to name them, and she met with Tyrell to give the virus its name. Noting the halo protruding from the main body of the virus resembled the corona of the sun, they named it the coronavirus. The Latin word corona means a crown, or garland, such as a laurel garland given in victory. The English word virus is borrowed directly from the Latin word virus, meaning poison, or poisonous sap from trees or plants, or a powerful (poisonous) drink. It was first used in a medical sense in English in 1728 to denote a venereal disease, and took its modern meaning around 1880. First use to denote a computer virus goes all the way back to 1972! The term COVID-19 is a portmanteau from CO(rona)VI(rus)D(isease)-(20)19.Coronavirus image by June Almeida and David Tyrrell - https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/docserver/fulltext/jgv/½/JV0010020175.pdf?expires=1586941505&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=34CDB01C2EE0BFA0089C29B3B0A892ADThe Morphology of Three Previously Uncharacterized HumanRespiratory Viruses that Grow in Organ Culture, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89153083COVID-19 image by CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS, in the public domain. -- source link