Lethal Virus from 1918 Genetically Reconstructed

The Sunshine Project ^ | 9 October 2003

[GluteusMax]

What is the Sunshine Project?

I don't know.

I read through their web info and they seem left-leaning.

[GluteusMax]

Check this link: Click

From the linked article:

The strain in question, called H5N1, is immune to molecules called cytokines - the first line of defence against 'flu.

SNIP

"After infection with 'flu, cells start churning out cytokines," says virologist Robert Webster of St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. This triggers an immune response in uninfected cells, and suppresses most strains.

SNIP

Just one genetic mutation lets H5N1 evade cytokines, Webster's team found. The researchers put the crucial gene into another form of 'flu; infected pigs became much sicker than those given the unmodified virus. The animals also remained infectious for longer.

[tallhappy]

Thanks for the link. What's interesting about the 1918 flu is that it is not non-structural genes causing the virulence, as in the case of the article you linked to.