The selenium-coxsackievirus connection: Chronicle of a collaboration

Abstract

This review provides a historical account of a collaboration established between a nutritionist and a virologist to investigate the interrelationship of host nutritional status and viral virulence. The parties to this collaboration consider themselves specialists in the fields of antioxidant nutrition and viral immunology, respectively. The advantages of such talent pooling are discussed (rapid startup, well-focused experimentation, ability to visualize the 'big picture'), as are some of the disadvantages (limited common scientific vocabulary, proper apportioning of credit, lack of institutional infrastructure to house such efforts). The common perception that some of the most exciting science occurs when the advancing edges of two disparate disciplines intersect is borne out by this project because host nutriture was shown for the first time to influence the genetic make-up of an invading viral pathogen. Encouragement of joint cooperative ventures should have a high priority as demanded by increasingly difficult scientific problems and as desired by scientists themselves who wish to see their research progress more quickly.