Lecture “Giant viruses: new horizons of Virology” by Professor Jean-Michel Claverie

On September 21, 2018 Professor Jean-Michel Claverie of the Aix-Marseille University gave lecture on the topic “Giant viruses: new horizons of Virology”.

One of the most famous and most-cited virologists in the world, the author, who discovered a group of giant viruses, visited North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov. The discovery of giant viruses according to the professor himself was a kind of revolution in virology.

Based on the research of French microbiologists Andréa Lvov, Louis Pasteur, as well as the Russian physiologist and founder of virology D.I. Ivanovsky, Jean-Michel Claverie told about the previously unknown form of life, the reasons for the allocation of giant viruses in a separate reign, as well as the differences between giant viruses and bacteria, cells and other viruses such as HIV, HPV, influenza, etc.

The French virologist came to Russia for research purposes - to take samples of the permanent frost and examine them for giant viruses. Indeed, as is known, in 2015, in the north-east of Siberia in the permanent frost was found a giant virus aged 30 thousand years, which was called Mollivirus sibericum.

Visit of French virologist Professor Jean-Michel Claverie became a real sensation for North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov.

Read more: http://www.szgmu.ru/rus/m/3906/gigantskie_wirusy:_nowye_gorizonty_wirusologii.html