It’s time to answer all the questions posed at the beginning of this article.Crown The virus was discovered by a Scottish scientist, June Almeida, half a century ago. (information acknowledged to Sydney Combs, National Geographic) published on April 18, 2020.
June Almeida was born Hart, she lived with her family in an apartment building in Glasgow, Scotland, where her father worked as a bus driver. She was a bright student with the ambition to go to college, but money was tight. At 16, she dropped out of school and began working as a laboratory technician at Royal Infirmary, where she used microscopes to help analyze tissue samples.
After moving to a similar job at St. Batholomew’s Hospital in London. There she met her husband, the Venezuelan Enriques Almeida. The couple emigrated to Canada. Ms. Almeida got a job working with electron microscopes at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto. There he developed new techniques and published many articles describing the structures of viruses never seen before.
New way of seeing with the electron microscope:
He developed simple but revolutionary methods in the field of virology. When working with microscopic particles, it is difficult to know exactly what to look for. An electron microscope emits a beam of electrons and records the interactions of the particles with the surface of the sample. Since electrons have much shorter wavelengths than light, this shows scientists a picture with much finer and smaller details. The challenge is discerning whether a tiny drop is a virus, a cell, or something else.
To solve the problem, Almeida realized that he could use antibodies taken from previously infected people to identify the virus. Antibodies attract = their antigen counterparts, so when Almeida introduced tiny antibody-coated particles, they would congregate around the virus alerting her to their presence. This pioneering method was used as a tool in electron microscopy by physicians who studied virus infection.
He then identified a host of other viruses, including rubella, which causes complications in pregnancies, causes three-day measles, Almeida was the first to see and record it. He recalled viruses while observing bronchitis in chickens and while studying liver inflammations from hepatitis in mice.
Later, while helping Dr. David Tyrrell of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Ameida found and created clear images of the virus and was certain that these viruses were a new group of viruses. It had a halo-like structure and was named Crown.. from today Crown The virus was born with Almeida’s identification 50 years ago.
Retired from Virology, Almeida remained active and curious. She became a yoga teacher, restored fine china, a keen eye for antiques. Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, described Almeda as his mentor. “She is certainly one of the outstanding Scittish scientists. Of her generation.”
Now sadly forgotten, ironically, this Crown sprout has once again shed light on his work in the 21st century. Almeida’s work is more relevant now.