[aruanan]

Consider also that the smallest prokaryote genome is maybe twice as large as the pox virus.

More like three times: Mycoplasma genitalium, complete genome, 580,074 bp versus Variola virus, 185,578 bp. Even the smallest are friggin huge.

[Nebullis]

More like three times: Mycoplasma genitalium, complete genome, 580,074 bp versus Variola virus, 185,578 bp. Even the smallest are friggin huge.

Thanks. I think you get my drift. It's the same order of magnitude. There are people (e.g. Clyde Hutchinson) working on the Mycoplasma already and have wittled the number of essential genes from 500 down to 200.