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The following article appeared today in diamondbackonline.com, ?the University of Maryland?s independent student newspaper.? I leave it for other flutrackers to assess the content.
Univ. researchers combat potential avian flu outbreak
by Ben Block
August 10, 2006
A new technique developed in university laboratories could rapidly change how public health officials combat a possible avian flu pandemic, a team of researchers studying the virus said.
By splicing a common chicken virus? DNA strand and re-stitching it with the SARS virus inserted inside, researchers created a vaccine effective in preventing the virus that caused worldwide panic in 2003. Similar genetic maneuvering could create a vaccine for the avian flu or other similar viruses that have no vaccine currently available, said Siba Samal, who led the team of researchers.
?We can not only make vaccines for chicken but also find that by this method we can insert a foreign gene, any type ? and we found a good response,? said Samal, who is associate dean at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, a joint professional school between the university and Virginia Tech. ?[This method] could be used for any human virus when vaccines are difficult to make ? like HIV.?
Although Samal has only proven his new technique with monkeys using the SARS virus, the National Institutes of Health funded his research with an additional $4.1 million, five-year research contract that began in July. A researcher at NIH who declined to be identified because of his role on other projects there said Samal may have found a faster and more reliable method to create an avian flu vaccine.
?We can do in months what [for other researchers] takes years,? Samal said.
Samal?s work on the chicken virus, known as Newcastle Disease, began more than 10 years ago, but Samal?s team only encountered success using this technique known as reverse genetics on the virus earlier this year.
The chicken virus? modified DNA produced not only its own proteins, it produced the SARS virus? proteins as well, Samal said. He now hopes he can find the same success in creating an avian flu vaccine. The research contract with NIH will be used to research several different strands of Newcastle Disease.
If he can successfully create a vaccine, Samal said, researchers will have several Newcastle strands to choose from while combating the often-evolving flu virus.
?The vaccine, a dead version of the virus, conditions the human body to co-exist with an invading live avian flu strand.
?Most humans have antibodies to human pathogens, but humans don?t have antibodies to animal pathogens like [Newcastle], so this is better and we?re expanding this work to other viruses,? Samal said.
Avian flu has proven to be a very contagious virus that passes through birds? intestines but only infects humans who ingest infected poultry [this statement could have used a bit more research!]. The virus has not evolved enough to pass from human to human, but researchers fear that if it does, humans will have no immunity against its foreign pathogens.
Samal also claims he can create a vaccine faster than the traditional methods because he does not need to cultivate a live virus, which after safety tests and production time takes about ten months. Instead, using reverse genetics, he only has to alter the gene sequence of the Newcastle Disease virus.
?The system we have is very useful in case of a pandemic because we can do it very quickly,? he said.
Samal, who says he?s the first to create a human vaccine from a chicken virus, also claims his technique is safer because it avoids handling live viruses.
James Matthews, senior director of public and science policy at pharmaceutical company sanofi pasteur, disagrees: ?It?s a live virus but it?s? safe to use,? Matthews said, referring to current vaccine production methods. ?There?s always a conceptual or theoretical worry when using a live virus.?
GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world?s largest pharmaceutical companies, is viewed as the closest to developing an effective avian flu vaccine. In late July, they announced successful vaccination of humans using a 2004 strain found in Vietnam, as long as an immune booster is coupled with the vaccine.
Contact reporter Ben Block at newsdesk@dbk.umd.com.
Univ. researchers combat potential avian flu outbreak
by Ben Block
August 10, 2006
A new technique developed in university laboratories could rapidly change how public health officials combat a possible avian flu pandemic, a team of researchers studying the virus said.
By splicing a common chicken virus? DNA strand and re-stitching it with the SARS virus inserted inside, researchers created a vaccine effective in preventing the virus that caused worldwide panic in 2003. Similar genetic maneuvering could create a vaccine for the avian flu or other similar viruses that have no vaccine currently available, said Siba Samal, who led the team of researchers.
?We can not only make vaccines for chicken but also find that by this method we can insert a foreign gene, any type ? and we found a good response,? said Samal, who is associate dean at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, a joint professional school between the university and Virginia Tech. ?[This method] could be used for any human virus when vaccines are difficult to make ? like HIV.?
Although Samal has only proven his new technique with monkeys using the SARS virus, the National Institutes of Health funded his research with an additional $4.1 million, five-year research contract that began in July. A researcher at NIH who declined to be identified because of his role on other projects there said Samal may have found a faster and more reliable method to create an avian flu vaccine.
?We can do in months what [for other researchers] takes years,? Samal said.
Samal?s work on the chicken virus, known as Newcastle Disease, began more than 10 years ago, but Samal?s team only encountered success using this technique known as reverse genetics on the virus earlier this year.
The chicken virus? modified DNA produced not only its own proteins, it produced the SARS virus? proteins as well, Samal said. He now hopes he can find the same success in creating an avian flu vaccine. The research contract with NIH will be used to research several different strands of Newcastle Disease.
If he can successfully create a vaccine, Samal said, researchers will have several Newcastle strands to choose from while combating the often-evolving flu virus.
?The vaccine, a dead version of the virus, conditions the human body to co-exist with an invading live avian flu strand.
?Most humans have antibodies to human pathogens, but humans don?t have antibodies to animal pathogens like [Newcastle], so this is better and we?re expanding this work to other viruses,? Samal said.
Avian flu has proven to be a very contagious virus that passes through birds? intestines but only infects humans who ingest infected poultry [this statement could have used a bit more research!]. The virus has not evolved enough to pass from human to human, but researchers fear that if it does, humans will have no immunity against its foreign pathogens.
Samal also claims he can create a vaccine faster than the traditional methods because he does not need to cultivate a live virus, which after safety tests and production time takes about ten months. Instead, using reverse genetics, he only has to alter the gene sequence of the Newcastle Disease virus.
?The system we have is very useful in case of a pandemic because we can do it very quickly,? he said.
Samal, who says he?s the first to create a human vaccine from a chicken virus, also claims his technique is safer because it avoids handling live viruses.
James Matthews, senior director of public and science policy at pharmaceutical company sanofi pasteur, disagrees: ?It?s a live virus but it?s? safe to use,? Matthews said, referring to current vaccine production methods. ?There?s always a conceptual or theoretical worry when using a live virus.?
GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world?s largest pharmaceutical companies, is viewed as the closest to developing an effective avian flu vaccine. In late July, they announced successful vaccination of humans using a 2004 strain found in Vietnam, as long as an immune booster is coupled with the vaccine.
Contact reporter Ben Block at newsdesk@dbk.umd.com.
