Scientists propose framework for identifying possible viral threats to human health
Most of what scientists know about animal viruses is the list of nucleotides that make up their genome sequences. As valuable as this is, it offers little hint of the virus’ ability to infect humans.
Rather than wow the world with the next outbreak, the two virologists said in a Science Perspective article published today (March 10, 2023) that the scientific community is investing in a four-part research framework. to actively identify animal viruses that can infect humans. .
“Much financial investment has gone into sequencing viruses in nature, and we believe that sequencing alone can predict the next pandemic virus.” , Cody Warren, said:
“Experimental studies of animal viruses will be invaluable,” he said. “By measuring viral characteristics consistent with human infections, we can identify and further study viruses with the highest zoonotic risk. I think it’s the way you look at it.”
Warren co-authored the opinion paper with Sarah Sawyer, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
One of Warren and Sawyer’s key messages is to paint a picture of potential zoonotic diseases, even knowing that animal viruses can attach to human cell receptors. That’s not to say.
They propose a series of experiments to assess the potential of animal viruses to infect humans. Can they make copies of themselves and multiply? After virus particles are produced, can they pass through human innate immunity? do you have?
If these questions can be answered, scientists may be able to ‘shelf’ a candidate pre-zoon virus for further study. Perhaps we could develop a rapid method of diagnosing the virus in humans should an unexplained illness surface, and test existing antivirals as possible treatments, Warren said.
“The difficulty is that there may be many animal viruses with human compatibility traits,” he said. Do you choose? It’s something that needs careful consideration.”
He and Sawyer suggest that, as a good starting point, they work on the assumption that the viruses most at risk to humans come from the “habitual offender” virus families currently infecting mammals and birds. increase. They include coronaviruses, orthomyxoviruses (influenza), and filoviruses (which cause bleeding diseases like Ebola and Marburg). Although it has been detected, its potential to infect humans remains unknown.
And then there are the arteriviruses, such as the simian hemorrhagic fever virus present in wild African monkeys. Sawyer and Warren recently determined that it could replicate in human cells and disrupt the ability of immune cells to fight back, so it has a fair chance of spreading to humans. .
While the 2020 global lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is still a fresh and painful memory, Warren said the dire consequences of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 were much worse. I point out that it is possible. A vaccine was available within a year of lockdown, he said, because scientists spent decades studying the coronavirus and knew how to attack it.
“So if we invest early in researching animal viruses and understand their biology in more detail, we’ll be better prepared to fight them later if they emerge in humans,” Warren said.
“We are constantly exposed to animal viruses. Things will never change if we are on the same track,” he said. “If we stay complacent and only study after those animal viruses have jumped into humans, we will always be working backwards. We will always fall behind.”
Original: Looking for dangerous viruses now to stay ahead of future pandemics
Than: Ohio State University | University of Colorado Boulder
