Hello there,
I am currently an undergraduate in the final year of my degree. Initially, I wanted to be a medical doctor until I took a General Virology class. Suddenly, these absolutely astonishing(and usually beautiful) biological entities were all I could think about. I was no longer concerned with treating patients, I wanted to study viruses exclusively(obviously except for the biology of the host as it relates to a virus’s life cycle). My question is, how do I get involved in research for classifying viruses? At this point, I’m willing to study any virus for any ethical application. Plant, fungal, Archeal, anything! But most of all I would love to dedicate my life to classifying our abundant friends!
Hi Nathan,
Great to see that you are so enthusiastic about viruses and are interested in their classification! This is an important topic with lots of fundamental and practical aspects that you could work on, and it depends on your background and expertise where your input could be most valuable.
Where are you based? Are there any scientists in your area working on viruses whose lab you could visit?
Best, Bas