As anyone who has ever been in love knows, as time passes the desire to change the beloved becomes irresistable. In the old days virologists changed their viruses like Mendel altered his peas, selecting and breeding for characteristics that were useful and interesting. It was a long and messy process. Molecular biology revoltinized this in the 1970's. Suddenly, a virus was less like a hardbound book and more like a three ring binder: The power to cut and paste genes aenabled virologiststo remove pages og genetic information and replace thwem with others. The implications for vaccine research were tremendous.
excerpted from Big Shot by Patricia Thomas
Kind af a 'secret too big to keep' don't you think?