Author: Anuhya Banerjee
There have been many virology studies in the history of medicine, but none quite as relevant to
the present-day as Scientist June Almeida’s findings. While she may have previously been a
hidden pioneer of virus imaging, her contributions are highlighted in her pivotal identification of
the first human coronavirus. Her revolutionary findings and research in 1965 are what paved the
way for our knowledge of the current pandemic and the fight to understand this novel
coronavirus.
Born on October 5, 1930, June Hart had bright hopes at a young age to eventually attend
university and lead a life of knowledge. However, money problems soon forced 16-year-old Hart
to drop out of school. She worked at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary as a lab technician, which is
where she learned many of her research skills in histopathology by analyzing tissue samples with
microscopes. In 1954 with her husband, Enriques Almeida, the couple immigrated to Canada
where June Almeida worked at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto. It was there that she
finally had gained recognition for her renowned research on virus structures with electron
microscopes.
Electron Microscope Advancements
Without June’s work during the 20th century, the field of virology would have had limited
advancements during that time period. She spent much of her time in Toronto focused on
microscopic particles where beams of electrons were blasted at viral specimens. This allowed
scientists to get detailed images with higher magnification and resolution of their samples, due to
the fact that electrons have a shorter wavelength than light (Scanning Electron Microscopy).
There are difficulties that June came across with the electron microscope, such as discerning the
virus from cells or various blobs. Despite this feat, she soon found an unprecedented solution to
this problem through the use of antibodies, which would behave in a manner to aggregate and
surround the virus, thus identifying the presence of a specimen. Her original technique called
Immune Electron Microscopy (IEM) was an impressive scientific conclusion that allowed her to
be the first scientist to produce a visualization of the rubella virus and study numerous viruses.
Identifying the First Human Coronavirus
After her accomplishments with IEM, June went back to London to work at St. Thomas's
Hospital Medical School in 1964 to continue research on common colds. This is where she
became familiar with B814, a sample collected from Dr. David Tyrrell who directed the
Common Cold Research Team in Salisbury. His team could not identify a specific nasal swab
from a schoolboy and sent the sample to Almeida in hopes to learn more about the virus that
could not grow in a cultivated environment. This is where June had discovered the qualities of
the structure we know as coronavirus, named after the halo “crown” appearance of the virus.
However, the path leading up to the discovery was anything but promising, as Dr. Tyrrell stated
in his book that “We were not too hopeful but felt it was worth a try” (Cold Wars: The Fight
Against the Common Cold). What was extraordinary about June Almeida’s identification was
that she had observed a similar virus in chickens/mice, which is why she did not write the virus
off as “influenza-like” upon looking at the imaging. Previously, in fact, two of her research
papers on the (corona)virus in animals had been rejected by reviewers on the basis that the
imaging was simply a poor visualizer of influenza. With the sample sent by Dr. Tyrrell, it
became certain that they had discovered the emerging of a new virus. Even in June Almeida’s death in 2007, her research and discoveries are more relevant than ever in our own fight against the virus that she studied. Her work goes unnoticed no longer in the wake of our struggles with the coronavirus as we honor her as none other than a female pioneer, hero, and ultimately an advancing virologist dedicated to medicine!
Sources
https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-05-07/meet-june-almeida-scottish-virologist-who-first-
identified-coronavirus
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/04/june-almeida-discovered-coronaviruses-
decades-ago-little-recognition/
https://www.nanoscience.com/techniques/scanning-electron-microscopy/
https://www.webmd.com/lung/coronavirus-history
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440895/
I really enjoyed that you went into detail talking about the science behind her research! very interesting :)