Coronavirus discovery– The woman who first discovered the existence of coronavirus in the human body was the daughter of a Scottish bus driver who dropped out of school at the age of 16. June Dalziel Almeida (5 October 1930 – 1 December 2007) was a Scottish virologist, a pioneer in virus imaging, identification, and diagnosis. Her skills in electron microscopy earned her an international reputation. In the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic her research is still referenced.
The woman who first discovered the covid-19 coronavirus
June Almeida became a leading figure in virus imaging, whose work has now again become the focal point during this virus epidemic.
Covid-19 is a new type of virus, but it is a species of coronavirus. The first coronavirus was identified by Dr. Almeida in 1964 in the laboratory of St. Thomas Hospital in London. Born in 1930 in June Hart, the virologist grew up in a tenement area near Alexandra Park in Glasgow.
In the field of formal education, he dropped out of school with little education. However, he began working as a laboratory worker in histopathology at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
She later moved to London to improve her career. In 1954, she married Enrique Almeida, a Venezuelan artist.
Almeida in the United Kingdom
According to medical author George Winter, the couple and their daughter moved to Toronto, Canada. There at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Almeida showcased her outstanding skills with an electronic microscope. She introduced a method that makes it possible to see viruses more clearly by integrating antibodies. Mr. Winter told BBC Radio Scotland that her talent caught the attention of the UK.
In 1964, she was lured back to the United Kingdom to work at St. Thomas Hospital Medical College in London. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was treated at the same hospital after contracting Covid-19.
Upon her return, she began working with Dr. David Tyrrell, who was researching the common cold at Salisbury in Wiltshire.
common cold research of June Almeida’s team
Coronavirus-discovery- Mr. Winter says Dr. Tyrrell was researching nasal washings with volunteers. Their team found that they were able to spread several common cold-cough viruses, but not all of them.
One of them is particularly noticeable. It was named B-814, which came from the work of a student at a boarding school in Surrey in 1960.
They found that although they were able to develop some of the symptoms of the common cold-cough among the volunteers, they could no longer grow inside their regular cells.
Volunteers, however, showed some increase in limbs. Dr. was surprised to see that. Tyrrell thought it should be examined with an electric microscope.
They sent the samples to June Almeida, who saw virus particles in the samples. “They look like influenza viruses, but they are not,” she said.
What she identified became known around the world as the coronavirus.
Mr. Winter says Dr. Almeida had previously seen such particles when investigating hepatitis in rats and infectious bronchitis in chickens.
Nevertheless, her document, sent to the Peer-Review Journal, was rejected. Because the referees said that the pictures she gave were bad images of influenza virus particles. ”
The British Medical Journal in 1965 published the discovery
The discovery of B-814 was published in the British Medical Journal in 1965. The first image of a coronavirus she saw was published two years later in the Journal of General Virology.
Coronavirus-discovery- According to Mr. Winter, Dr. Tyrell and Dr. Almeida, as well as Professor Tony Waterson, who was in charge of St. Thomas, named the virus the coronavirus because there were many crown-like similarities around the virus… Dr. Almeida later worked at the Postgraduate Medical School in London, where she was awarded a doctorate.
Almeida was a Yoga instructor
She ended her career at the Wellcome Institute, where she owns several copyrights in the field of viral imaging.
After leaving the wellcome Almeida became a yoga instructor. Later, in the 1980s, she worked as a consultant for HIV virus imaging.
In 2007, June Almeida died at the age of 77. Thirteen years after her death, she is finally being recognized for her pioneering work, which is helping to understand the virus that is now spreading worldwide.
17 Comments
Comments are closed.