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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TWiV 478: A pox on your horse