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Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Virus: Unexpected Rewards from the Past
Jeffery K. Taubenbergera,
David Baltimoreb,
Peter C. Dohertyc,
Howard Markeld,
David M. Morense,
Robert G. Websterf, and
Ian A. Wilsong
+ Author Affiliations
Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USAa;
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USAb;
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australiac;
Center for the History of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USAd;
Office of the Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USAe;
Division of Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USAf; and
Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USAg
Address correspondence to Jeffery K. Taubenberger, taubenbergerj@niaid.nih.gov.
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ABSTRACT
The influenza pandemic of 1918?1919 killed approximately 50 million people. The unusually severe morbidity and mortality associated with the pandemic spurred physicians and scientists to isolate the etiologic agent, but the virus was not isolated in 1918. In 1996, it became possible to recover and sequence highly degraded fragments of influenza viral RNA retained in preserved tissues from several 1918 victims. These viral RNA sequences eventually permitted reconstruction of the complete 1918 virus, which has yielded, almost a century after the deaths of its victims, novel insights into influenza virus biology and pathogenesis and has provided important information about how to prevent and control future pandemics.
full article
http://mbio.asm.org/content/3/5/e00201-12.full
Jeffery K. Taubenbergera,
David Baltimoreb,
Peter C. Dohertyc,
Howard Markeld,
David M. Morense,
Robert G. Websterf, and
Ian A. Wilsong
+ Author Affiliations
Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USAa;
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USAb;
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australiac;
Center for the History of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USAd;
Office of the Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USAe;
Division of Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USAf; and
Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USAg
Address correspondence to Jeffery K. Taubenberger, taubenbergerj@niaid.nih.gov.
Next Section
ABSTRACT
The influenza pandemic of 1918?1919 killed approximately 50 million people. The unusually severe morbidity and mortality associated with the pandemic spurred physicians and scientists to isolate the etiologic agent, but the virus was not isolated in 1918. In 1996, it became possible to recover and sequence highly degraded fragments of influenza viral RNA retained in preserved tissues from several 1918 victims. These viral RNA sequences eventually permitted reconstruction of the complete 1918 virus, which has yielded, almost a century after the deaths of its victims, novel insights into influenza virus biology and pathogenesis and has provided important information about how to prevent and control future pandemics.
full article
http://mbio.asm.org/content/3/5/e00201-12.full