Mary Wilson
Well-known member
The Pathoplexus database has sequences from Ebola, West Nile virus and another dangerous pathogen.
09 September 2024
By Smriti Mallapaty
A new database for researchers to share the genomes of dangerous viruses promises to solve many of the problems that hamper existing alternatives. But first, researchers must be convinced to use it.
Pathoplexus — a portmanteau of pathogen and plexus — was launched last month, and the team of scientists behind the database hopes that it will encourage more researchers to share genetic sequences of known and emerging viruses of public-health importance.
Sharing sequences as quickly as possible is important for identifying new viruses and tracking changes that could make them more dangerous to humans, as well as for designing vaccines, says Edward Holmes, a virologist at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Pathoplexus currently focuses on four viruses that are not specifically included in other databases: Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire and West Nile Virus. Other pathogens will be added later, the team says. ...
Pathoplexus doesn’t block individuals who breach the terms of use from accessing the site, which GISAID has done in rare cases. Instead, if published data breach the terms, the team will approach the journals to ensure that the data are used in accordance with the way in which they were shared, says Emma Hodcroft, a co-founder of Pathoplexus and a molecular epidemiologist at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel, Switzerland. “We have tried to be incredibly explicit” about the terms, she says. ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02864-x
09 September 2024
By Smriti Mallapaty
A new database for researchers to share the genomes of dangerous viruses promises to solve many of the problems that hamper existing alternatives. But first, researchers must be convinced to use it.
Pathoplexus — a portmanteau of pathogen and plexus — was launched last month, and the team of scientists behind the database hopes that it will encourage more researchers to share genetic sequences of known and emerging viruses of public-health importance.
Sharing sequences as quickly as possible is important for identifying new viruses and tracking changes that could make them more dangerous to humans, as well as for designing vaccines, says Edward Holmes, a virologist at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Pathoplexus currently focuses on four viruses that are not specifically included in other databases: Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire and West Nile Virus. Other pathogens will be added later, the team says. ...
Pathoplexus doesn’t block individuals who breach the terms of use from accessing the site, which GISAID has done in rare cases. Instead, if published data breach the terms, the team will approach the journals to ensure that the data are used in accordance with the way in which they were shared, says Emma Hodcroft, a co-founder of Pathoplexus and a molecular epidemiologist at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel, Switzerland. “We have tried to be incredibly explicit” about the terms, she says. ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02864-x
