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The Vaccinia virus (VACV or VV) is a large, complex, enveloped virus belonging to the poxvirus family.
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It has a linear, double-stranded DNA genome approximately 190 kbp in length, and which encodes approximately 250 genes.
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The vaccinia was at the heart of the modern smallpox vaccine. History has it that Edward Jenner isolated a cowpox virus and injected it into a boy.
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This protected him from small pox and birthed the vaccination era.
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However, recent work finds that Jenner may not have just used a cowpox virus.
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What he used may have contained even the horsepox virus and slivers of other viruses too.
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This cocktail makes up vaccinia and there are new investigations into its genetic structure to make it amenable to new kinds of vaccines.
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The smallpox vaccine might actually have come from horses.
Source:TH