The TWiV team explains how infectious horsepox virus - likely the ancestor of smallpox vaccines - was recovered from chemically synthesized DNA fragments.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

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Links for this episode

• ASV 2018: asv.org, asv2018.umd.edu
• Potential Zika virus related birth defects, USA (MMWR)
• Bordering on an outbreak (Tex Obs)
• Horsepox virus from synthesized DNA (PLoS One)
• Horsepox based smallpox vaccine (NEJM)
• Has horsepox become extinct? (Vet Rec)
• Evolutionary path of smallpox vaccines (Lancet Inf Dis)
• Equination (Vaccine)
• Image credit
• Letters read on TWiV 478

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

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