The pandemic influenza virus of 1918-1919 killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide. With the recent availability of the complete 1918 influenza virus coding sequence, we used reverse genetics to generate an influenza virus bearing all eight gene segments of the pandemic virus to study the properties associated with its extraordinary virulence. In stark contrast to contemporary huma...

To understand the reported cross-reactivity of the 2009 H1N1 and the 1918 H1N1 pandemic viruses we docked the crystal structure of 2D1, an antibody derived from a survivor of the 1918 pandemic, to the structures of hemaglutinin (HA) of the 2009 strain and seasonal H1 vaccine strains. Our studies revealed that 2D1 binds to the 2009 HA at antigenic site 'Sa', with stabilizing contacts, similar to...

The effect of the 1918 influenza pandemic on other diseases is a neglected topic in historical epidemiology. This paper takes up the hypothesis that the influenza pandemic affected the long-term decline of tuberculosis through selective mortality, such that many people with tuberculosis were killed in 1918, depressing subsequent tuberculosis mortality and transmission. Regularly collected vital...

Michael Stoker Sir Michael Stoker, a pioneer of virology and the cell biology of cancer cells, died on 13 August at the age of 95. Viruses have always been useful tools for probing the workings of cells, and Michael exploited tumor-causing viruses to gain a better understanding of oncogenic mechanisms at the dawn of the molecular biology of animal cells. During a long career, Michael not only m...

Howard Schachman, renowned physical chemist and protein chemist, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, extraordinary teacher, and a lifetime fighter for civil liberties, died on August 5 in Oakland California at age 97 from complications of pneumonia. Schachman’s active career spanned fundamental work on virus structure, the development of the analytical ultracentrifuge and its u...

The Meuse-Argonne offensive, a decisive battle during the First World War, is the largest frontline commitment in American military history involving 1.2 million U.S. troops. With over 26,000 deaths among American soldiers, the offensive is considered "America's deadliest battle". The Meuse-Argonne offensive coincided with the highly fatal second wave of the influenza pandemic in 1918. In Europ...