A critique of the use of species and below-species taxonomic terms for viruses—time for change?
Peter Simmonds · 2024
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Description
How viruses get their scientific names is not a dry filing question, Peter Simmonds argues in a 2024 critique. Simmonds writes alone, taking aim at the system run by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. In that system, species names are formal labels, while the viruses themselves go by a separate list of community names.
The split confuses even virologists, and new two-part species names that mimic biology's style have deepened the muddle. Worse, the system stops at species level, leaving workhorse names below it unregulated. Poliovirus, HIV-1, and the coronavirus behind COVID-19 all sit in that gap, where loose naming can blur clinical and safety work. Simmonds proposes treating virus names as common and scientific names, as the rest of biology does, and extending rules below species.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Peter Simmonds |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 75 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |