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H5N1: Reverse genetics
Posted by Raven on November 1st, 2005
Ingenious. I have no other word to describe some of the things being done to figure out ways to keep H5N1 from killing millions. It’s amazing what modern day scientists and doctors really can do.
WASHINGTON – Scientists who are racing to create vaccines to protect humans from the vicious bird-flu virus that’s sweeping across Asia and Eastern Europe are using an ingenious strategy known as “reverse genetics.”
The idea is to take apart the genes that make up two viruses – one deadly, the other relatively harmless – and reassemble parts of them into a new, weakened virus that can be used safely as a vaccine.
The government already has ordered 20 million doses of such a recombined vaccine, even though it’s still being tested and hasn’t been approved for human use. President Bush is scheduled to announce his plan to meet the bird-flu threat Tuesday.
Reverse genetics is “the only efficient way to produce vaccine strains” for the deadly bird-flu virus, said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a viral expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
This has extreme potential to be THE thing that prevents a pandemic. This could work, medically speaking. And they could apply this to other infectious diseases as well.
Here’s how the reverse-genetic process works, as explained by Richard Webby, a leading vaccine researcher at the St. Jude laboratory:
- The first step is to obtain a sample of the H5N1 virus from the World Health Organization, extract its RNA and reproduce it.
- Next, researchers take six genes from the common, seasonal virus strain known as H1N1, which is now circulating in the world. These genes perform basic housekeeping functions in the virus, and aren’t dangerous by themselves.
- Then comes a crucial step. The H5 gene consists of 1,723 chemical units called amino acids. The researchers snip out seven of the units, which makes the surface protein harmless.
“It’s amazing what difference that itty-bitty thing makes,” Webby said.
- Finally, the N1 gene is added to the mix, creating a reconstituted H5N1 virus. Quantities of the virus can be grown in eggs or in cells from a dog or monkey kidney. Other substances are added to complete the vaccine.
All I can say is- WOW. Get to work scientists. This simply means that vaccines could be made a heck of lot faster than the standard methods currently used. Potentially, enough vaccines to protect every one of us. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s too late, now, to stop a pandemic from reaching us within the next 12-18 months.
Bird Flu already affecting economies
Airlines would be first to take major hit if H5N1 spreads
