There are many instances of beneficial uses of viruses, beginning with Tulipomania > Tulip mania or tulipomania high levels and then suddenly collapsed. At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble. These spectacular and highly sought-after tulip bulbs would grow flowers with vivid colors, lines, and flames on the petals, as a result, it is now understood, of being infected with a tulip-specific virus known as the "Tulip breaking virus", a type of mosaic virus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania See also: Harmful and Beneficial Effects of Plant Viruses in Insects Annual Review of Microbiology Vol. 17: 495-530 (Volume publication date October 1963) More recently, viruses have been employed as carriers for man-made genetic modifications Gene therapy using an adenovirus vector. A new gene is injected into an adenovirus vector, which is used to introduce the modified DNA into a human cell. If the treatment is successful, the new gene will make a functional protein. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/illustrations/therapyvector *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm