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About George Hirst (virologist)
- George Keble Hirst, M.D.
- (March 2, 1909 – January 22, 1994) was an American virologist and science administrator who was among the first to study the molecular biology and genetics of animal viruses, especially influenza virus.
- He directed the Public Health Research Institute in New York City (1956–1981), and was also the founding editor-in-chief of Virology, the first English-language journal to focus on viruses.
- He is particularly known for inventing the hemagglutination assay, a simple method for quantifying viruses, and adapting it into the hemagglutination inhibition assay, which measures virus-specific antibodies in serum.
- He was the first to discover that viruses can contain enzymes, and the first to propose that virus genomes can consist of discontinuous segments.
- The New York Times described him as "a pioneer in molecular virology."
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