Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, was elated. In a matter of weeksnot months or
yearsteams of scientists whose work was coordinated by the World
Health Organization had managed to decode the entire genetic sequence of
the new coronavirus now conclusively believed to cause SARS, or severe
acute respiratory syndrome. "It's a scientific achievement that I don't
think has ever been paralleled in human history," said Dr. Gerberding
shortly before the April 16 announcement that the coronavirus's genetic
fingerprint had been fully...
