Greeting Card Campaign: 10-3 Virus Appreciation Day

Click here to download your Virus Appreciation Day card!

October 3rd is Virus Appreciation Day.  Myself, I can't remember a single virus that ever did me any good.  They never bothered me when I had a big test I hadn't studied for and needed and excuse to skip it. They always seemed to sneak up on me when I had someplace fun to go or something I really wanted to do.  Viruses are tough little sneaky things that make you sick and sometimes even kill you. They've earned their nasty reputation, but their tenacity and ability to worm their way into your very cells that make them the darlings of genetic technology and may actually help us cure a whole batch of previously incurable diseases.

Scientist have learned a lot about DNA, heredity and genetics from these often evil little guys.  They are cheap tools for biologists - easily modified and possessing the ability to entwine themselves with the host’s genome. Viruses have become the darlings of genetics. Scientists have been experimenting with using modified "harmless" genes as the delivery vehicle for genetic "updates" into a person’s cells. The modified virus would entwine with the host's genome and essential upload the correct genetic code to replace the damaged ones for sufferers of diseases like Parkinson’s, Bubble Boy syndrome (SCID) and Alzheimer's.  The plan is to ‘hijack the hijackers’ – in effect turning viruses into mercenary soldiers that fix damaged genes.  So far it's super-difficult and the side effects are worrisome, but who knows. We may soon be able to tame viruses and teach them to help rather than harm us.

Meantime, tell your sweetie how much you love her with this Virus Appreciation Day card.  You can't get much more romantic than that!

Just click on the caption below the picture of the big green icky virus. The link will take you to a pdf file in Google Docs. Remember, instead of printing from Google Docs, click on "File" in the upper left corner, then select "Download" and copy the file to your own computer.  Open it with Adobe PDF Reader or whatever PDF reader you use and print the card from there. For some reason Google Docs doesn't handle fonts well, even though they are supposed to be embedded in the PDF document itself.

This is a side fold card, so when it prints, be sure to tell your printer it's in "landscape" format so you get the whole file. Flip it on the short side to print double-sided. Much quicker that way.