Abstract
(1) THE absence of a limiting surface between the material of a virus and its host; (2) the high speed of the transmission of its characteristic symptoms (10–30 cm. per hour) in the tissues of the host; (3) its rapid increase; (4) the vanishingly small quantities needed for inoculation, made me many years ago form the opinion that viruses are more properly regarded as autocatalytic substances than as specific organisms. From 1922 on, I have mentioned the idea in my lectures.
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DIXON, H. Are Viruses Organisms or Autocatalysts?. Nature 139, 153 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139153a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139153a0
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