Mass decoding planned for flu strains
Helen Pearson

Patterns in genetic sequences may explain virulence.

As part of the effort to thwart a global flu pandemic, US scientists have
announced a scheme to determine the genetic sequence of many thousands of
strains of influenza.

Researchers already glean invaluable information about the flu virus from
its genetic material, for example, what makes one strain more virulent than
another. But such data have largely been based on scraps of genetic sequence
from only a few strains.

Those behind the new project, led by a group of scientific institutions
including the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), aim to log the complete genetic sequence of many thousands of
influenza strains that strike both people and birds. Birds are thought to be
the breeding ground for vicious human flu strains that periodically sweep
the globe, killing millions.

The announcement, made on 15 November, comes at a time when fears about the
next flu pandemic are running high. Specialists fear that the avian
influenza decimating bird flocks across Asia may gain the ability to spread
easily between people. At the same time, the fragility of vaccine supplies
has been thrown into the spotlight after a manufacturing hiccup wrote off
half the US supply in October.

Full Text at Nature
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041115/full/041115-3.html

Comment:
Annual global evolution.

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek
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