A Diversified Portfolio

Within minutes of a viral infection, mammals engage a multipronged immune attack to expunge the invading virus.In most cases, complete extinction of the viral infection requires a considerable investment in the adaptive immune system, which relies on prior "education" and active Darwinian selection to specifically recognize viral epitopes.Even prior to this engagement by the adaptive immune system, however, successful host defense requires the action of the innate immune system to at least slow down, if not extinguish, the invading virus.The innate defense system, activated by the interferon cytokine signaling, turns on dozens of genes, only some of which are efficacious against any particular virus.But it is the cumulative effect of millions of years of evolutionary investment in innate defenses that allows mammals to survive the initial onslaught of the viral pathogen, and to eventually curb infection.Both the diversity of the innate immune system and the rapid diversification of the adaptive immune system are necessary for successful defense.It is not a stretch to make an analogy between a successful immune system and a successful science investment strategy in the face of the significant viral pathogens that imperil humans, most recently Ebola and Zika viruses.Although such current viral pandemics justifiably require a rapid response, our ability to devise strategies to understand and combat these threats emerges from years, even decades, of prior research on related and unrelated viruses.Acknowledging the fact that the next viral threat may be unforeseeable, it is important that we embrace the study of diverse viruses for the future of the scientific enterprise.Most of us would probably agree that diversity is a good thing.Whether in the form of a variety of opinions and perspectives or an appreciation of differences, diversity brings richness from investigators and their subjects.Nevertheless, virology, like other fields of science, has always grappled with the intrinsic trade-off between breadth of the field and depth of research into particular viruses.In 1944, during the exciting early times of molecular biology, Max Delbr ück-a leader of the Phage Group-called for a Phage Treaty, which proposed that all bacteriophage research should focus on just seven vi