Robert Webster (virologist)
Robert Gordon (Rob) Webster (born 5 July 1932), in Balclutha, New Zealand, leading avian influenza expert, is the virologist who in 1957 was the first to announce a link between human flu and bird flu. He correctly posited that pandemic strains of flu arise from genes in flu virus strains in nonhumans; for example, via a reassortment of genetic segments (antigenic shift) between viruses in humans and nonhumans (especially birds) rather than by mutations (antigenic drift) in annual human flu strains.
Read more about Robert Webster (virologist): Background, Accomplishments, Work On General Influenza, H5N1 Work, Honors and Awards
Famous quotes containing the words robert and/or webster:
“When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”
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