The “Virus” Deception: Case Studies in Pseudoscience — Part 2: SMON Says

“Act like a virus!” In the first part of this series, I examined how fallacious reasoning and indirect methods commonly used by virologists can deceive them into believing they’ve found a “virus” when no such thing has been demonstrated. I focused on the case of Dr. Robert Shihman Chang and the so-called “lipovirus,” a phenomenon that arose… Continue reading The “Virus” Deception: Case Studies in Pseudoscience — Part 2: SMON Says

The “Virus” Deception: Case Studies in Pseudoscience — Part 1: The “Lipovirus”

How a speculative agent with no direct evidence was framed as a causative “virus.” In the 1950s, virology began to emerge as a distinct discipline, separating itself from bacteriology. For the first time, it was (falsely) recognized as a legitimate scientific field. This shift was largely due to the introduction of the cell culture technique by… Continue reading The “Virus” Deception: Case Studies in Pseudoscience — Part 1: The “Lipovirus”