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Preliminary Classification of Viruses Based on Quantitative Comparisons of Viral Nucleic Acids

Department of Microbiology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

ABSTRACT

It is proposed that classifications used in science are of two main types; those which are designed to solve practical problems and which are based on conventions, and those which are designed to solve theoretical problems, based on theories, and in which the classes are tested by experiment. An attempt has been made to construct a preliminary classification of viruses which is of the second type. It is based on the theories of molecular biology, with the use of computer-based comparisons of the molecular weights and base ratios of viral nucleic acids to assign the viruses to clusters which show a high degree of correlation with groupings based on nucleic acid hybridization, serological cross-reactions, and phenotypic properties.