"The synthesis of
horsepox virus takes the world one step closer to the reemergence of smallpox as a threat to global health security."
Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding announced the publication of research describing the successful synthesis and characterization of a potential smallpox-preventing vaccine based on
horsepox virus.
As an example, Science reported in July 2017 that a team of Canadian researchers synthesized the
horsepox virus, a relative of smallpox, from genetic pieces ordered through the mail.
Vaccination for cowpox, feline cowpox, buffalopox, and
horsepox is not practiced.
Already a research team at the University of Alberta has recreated from scratch an extinct relative of smallpox,
horsepox, by stitching together fragments of mail-order DNA in just six months for about $100,000 -- without a glance from law enforcement officials.