GMW: From frozen Alaska to the lab: a virus 39,000 times more virulent than flu

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GMW: From frozen Alaska to the lab: a virus 39,000 times more

virulent than flu

" GM WATCH " <info

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 10:41:06 +0100

 

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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COMMENT FROM GLENN ASHTON:

 

This is another nail in the coffin of genetic determinism; note in the

article that the virulence was found to not be controlled by any one

gene, but a combination of all eight.

 

As for the bloody fools thinking that they can contain this baby in a

lab, well, hello. Where did the anthrax used just post 9/11 come from?

Mars or the US Biowarfare labs at Ft Detrich?

 

It never ceases to amaze me how supposedly smart scientists are in

reality so absolutely dumb as far as common sense goes. But then if they

were all smart, we wouldnt have GM crops, would we?

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From frozen Alaska to the lab: a virus 39,000 times more virulent than

flu

 

Tight security to prevent 'select agent' escaping

 

Publication of its genetic code raises fears of misuse

 

Ian Sample, science correspondent

The Guardian, October 6, 2005

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1585716,00.html

 

Only a handful of scientists have security clearance to access the

laboratory at 1600 Clifton Road in Atlanta, Georgia, home to the US

government's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Before

entering, they

must pull on a protective hood, don breathing apparatus and pass

through electronic fingerprint and retina scanners to prove their

identity.

 

Inside the lab lies a batch of a virus, designated a " select agent " ,

that more than justifies the extreme level of security. Resurrected

nearly 90 years after it spread around the globe, leaving an estimated 50

million people dead, it is a replica of the 1918 Spanish flu virus.

 

The recreation of the virus, which was driven by an urge to unravel why

the 1918 pandemic was so devastating, has raised as many fears as it

has hopes. While the researchers argue the work will hugely improve

protection against natural flu viruses, critics say there is a real

danger

the virus will escape, with potentially disastrous consequences.

 

The recreation process was laborious. Scientists collected fragments of

the virus from lung tissue taken from victims at the time and preserved

in formalin or, in one case, isolated from the lungs of a woman victim

whose body had later become frozen in the Alaskan permafrost. Using the

fragments, they painstakingly pieced together and read the complete

genetic code before using the sequence to rebuild the virus from scratch.

 

By injecting it into mice, the team led by Dr Jeffery Taubenberger at

the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Maryland was able to

establish just how ferociously effective it was, compared with more

common flu

strains. All the mice infected died within a few days; all infected

with contemporary strains recovered. " I didn't expect it to be as lethal

as it was, " Dr Terrence Tumpey, a scientist on the project from the US

Centres of Disease Control and Prevention, told the journal Nature.

 

By creating flu strains with only certain parts of the 1918 virus,

researchers investigated which of the eight genes that make up the virus

were most responsible for its virulence. They discovered that rather than

being caused by one or two genes, they all played a part, which

suggests that the virus had completely adapted to cause disease in

humans,

something they say could happen again with avian flu strains.

 

In a second paper, published in Nature today, Dr Taubenberger and

colleagues at the US Centres for Disease Control and Protection

analysed the

genetic make-up of the recreated virus. Surprisingly, they found it had

no similarities to any of the human viruses in circulation, suggesting

that the Spanish strain had jumped from birds to humans, and didn't mix

with a human virus first, as had been believed.

 

The finding that Spanish flu came straight from birds has raised

concerns among scientists. Previously, a pandemic was only thought

likely if

an avian strain merged with a human flu virus. " For me, it raises even

more concern than I already had about the pending potential of a flu

pandemic, " said Professor Ronald Atlas, co-director of the centre for the

deterrence of biowarfare and bioterrorism at the University of

Louisville in Kentucky. " It looks as though an avian strain evolved in

1918 and

that led to the deadly outbreak, in much the same way as we're now

seeing the Asian avian flu strains evolve. "

 

According to Dr Taubenberger, knowing what mutations gave rise to the

1918 Spanish flu virus will help scientists check viruses to work out

which, if any, are evolving to the point where a pandemic is possible.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu in Asia is already mutating to make it more

suited to humans, he said.

 

Despite the new insights given by the project, many scientists were

alarmed at the recreation itself and particularly that the full genetic

sequence was to be made public on an online genetic database.

 

" Assuming this is a replicant of the 1918 flu strain, if it got out, it

could initiate disease in humans and given the work they've done, one

had to say it would be infectious, " said Prof Atlas.<P>Viruses have

escaped from high-security labs before. During the recent Sars

outbreak the

virus escaped at least twice, once in Taiwan and once in Singapore,

when researchers became contaminated.

 

Other scientists warned that the 1918 virus's genetic code could easily

be misused. Such has been the pace of progress in genetic science that

companies now build genes to order for customers who send in details of

sequences they want.

 

" If the genetic sequence is out there on a database, then that is a

clear security risk, " said Dr John Wood, a virologist at the National

Institute for Biological Standards and Control, in Potters Bar.

 

According to Dr Julie Gerberding, director of the US Centres for

Disease Control and Protection, a pandemic is unlikely even if the virus

escapes because of most people's natural immunities and the

availability of

antiviral drugs and flu vaccines.

 

Publication of the research still raises questions about the powers of

academic journals who take ultimate responsibility for publishing the

papers, said Dr Wood. " That is some responsibility, " he said.

 

The US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity concluded at an

emergency meeting last week to discuss the possible publication of the

papers that their benefits outweighed their risks.

 

FAQ: 1918 flu pandemic

 

Why was the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic so lethal?

 

The worst pandemic in human history, the 1918 strain killed an

estimated 50 million people. Because flu viruses were unknown at the

time, no

isolates of the pathogen were made, making it impossible for scientists

to study. Scientists believe the virus was originally found only in

birds but jumped to humans and evolved to become very infectious

 

Whom did the 1918 flu virus kill?

 

Most flu viruses kill the very young, the old and the infirm. But the

Spanish flu was unusual in striking young, fit people extremely hard.

Even with good healthcare, up to one third of those who picked up the

infection died, many within days<P><B>What is a select agent?

 

Its designation as a 'select agent' by US Centres for Disease Control

and Prevention puts it on a list of controlled pathogens and toxins

including ricin, smallpox virus, anthrax and ebola

 

How secure is the virus?

 

It is held in a biosafety level 3 enhanced laboratory, kept at a

negative pressure to prevent air escaping. Workers must wear protective

clothing, breathing apparatus and gain entry via fingerprint and retina

scans.

 

 

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