By Ben Rush, Scientist, Cell Biology In classical Greek mythology, Pandora’s Box was responsible for unleashing all forms of evil upon the world.  The Pandoravirus, named by researchers in honor of that ominous mythological symbol, is the largest virus ever discovered. However, unlike the Pandora’s Box of mythology and popular culture, the Pandoravirus does not appear to be a threat to human health and safety. Samples of Pandoravirus were extracted from underwater sediments off the coast of Chile by French virologist Jean-Michel Claverie, who, in 2010, along with his wife and colleague, Chantal Abergel, also discovered Megavirus off the coast

By Collin Myers, Technical Writer/Marketing Assistant A very long time ago, on a languid summer afternoon, my friends and I crawled through a drainpipe that ran beneath our hometown. Faced with an ongoing stretch of pure darkness, we trudged along warm concrete on our hands and knees, shredding hammocks of cobwebs and avoiding giant spiders that still haunt my sleep. We were ambushed at one point by a flock of bats perturbed by our presence in their underground lair. At the thought of contracting rabies, we raced through the darkness as fast as we could until we reached daylight.  

By Collin Myers, Technical Writer/Marketing Assistant On a cold night in December roughly ten years ago, I came home from work to an empty house. I can’t remember where my family had disappeared to, but when I walked in through the basement door, and turned on the overhead light in the living room, I realized that I wasn’t alone. We had bought a Christmas tree from a local nursery just a few minutes down the road, and the tree occupied a space in the far corner of the basement living room, bedazzled with multicolored lights, garland, candy canes, and shiny

By Dr. Rhonda Schwartz, Director of Operations and Administration  In the upcoming school year, my twelve-year old daughter’s pediatrician will require her to be administered with the HPV vaccine. With the recent outcry of news and scandal related to Michael Douglas’s claims that his battle with cancer stems from oral sex, the national debate over the use of current HPV vaccines has become a heated topic in the health care world.

By Dr. Rhonda Schwartz, Director of Operations and Administration This summer, I’m planning a trip to France with my children. However, just between you, me, and this blog, I could happily settle for pitching a tent, lighting a Coleman lantern, and mummifying myself in a sleeping bag in the backyard of my new house. In my backyard I know that my entertainment will fall to watching the cicadas, but at least I will not be subjecting my family to the potential dangers of acquiring a lethal virus during our travels abroad.

As I’m shaking the sand out of my shoes, I’m reminiscing on my time at the 29th Annual Clinical Virology Symposium (CVS) in Daytona Beach, FL. At this year’s conference, we were able to reconnect with our customers and relay the timely news of our newest product launch: Quantitated Viral Load Controls. All in all, this year’s CVS experience was a momentous opportunity for us to present our customers with the latest products and innovations from our laboratories in Columbia, Maryland.

It’s that time of year again…the birds are chirping, the cherry blossoms are blooming, and ABI is gearing up for the 29th annual Clinical Virology Symposium (CVS) in the Spring Break capital of the country, Daytona Beach, Florida.

By Collin Myers, Technical Writer/Marketing Assistant Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered a potential new cure to HIV. 

By Diana Vacchiano, Marketing Coordinator I always love telling our virologists that science is an art. Whether or not they agree with me is up to them, but now I have a little more proof: As a former art minor and chronic sketcher, it is hard for me to NOT be drawn toward anything artistic. A few days ago, as I walking by Brittany Beattie’s desk (Brittany serves as ABI’s invaluable Production Coordinator), I was instantly captivated by the image on her computer screen.

By Diana Vacchiano, Marketing Coordinator Last month we covered the increasing severity of the Influenza virus taking its toll on the U.S. population. However, the recent wintertime epidemic of influenza isn’t the only virus filling doctor’s offices and hospitals with feverish, antibiotic-craving patients.  RSV has been hitting the pediatric population at alarming rates.