50 years of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses: progress and prospects

• Published in: Archives of virology Vol. 162; no. 5; pp. 1441 - 1446
• Main Authors: Adams, Michael J., Lefkowitz, Elliot J., King, Andrew M. Q., Harrach, Balázs, Harrison, Robert L., Knowles, Nick J., Kropinski, Andrew M., Krupovic, Mart, Kuhn, Jens H., Mushegian, Arcady R., Nibert, Max L., Sabanadzovic, Sead, Sanfaçon, Hélène, Siddell, Stuart G., Simmonds, Peter, Varsani, Arvind, Zerbini, Francisco Murilo, Orton, Richard J., Smith, Donald B., Gorbalenya, Alexander E., Davison, Andrew J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.05.2017; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Anniversaries; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Computational Biology; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Infectious Diseases; issues and policy; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Metagenomics; Microbiology; Microbiology and Parasitology; Phylogeny; R&D; Research & development; Societies, Scientific; Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Taxonomy; United Kingdom; Virology; Virology Division News; Viruses; Viruses - classification; Viruses - genetics; United Kingdom > UK; Canada; United States > US; United Kingdom; Executive Committee; Virus Discovery; Online Report; Rabies; Virus Species
• ISSN: 0304-8608; 1432-8798; 1432-8798
• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-016-3215-y

We mark the 50th anniversary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) by presenting a brief history of the organization since its foundation, showing how it has adapted to advancements in our knowledge of virus diversity and the methods used to characterize it. We also outline recent developments, supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust (UK), that are facilitating substantial changes in the operations of the ICTV and promoting dialogue with the virology community. These developments will generate improved online resources, including a freely available and regularly updated ICTV Virus Taxonomy Report. They also include a series of meetings between the ICTV and the broader community focused on some of the major challenges facing virus taxonomy, with the outcomes helping to inform the future policy and practice of the ICTV.