Government Affairs & National Security
Global Health Security
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Genomic Characterisation of Human Monkeypox Virus in Nigeria (
The Lancet) First identified in 1958, MPXV has caused sporadic human outbreaks in central and west Africa, with a mortality rate between 1% and 10%. Viral genomes from west Africa and the Congo Basin separate into 2 clades, the latter being more virulent. Recently, MPXV outbreaks have occurred in Sudan (2005), the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (2009), and the Central African Republic (2016).
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Medicine & Public Health
TSRI Scientists Receive $15 Million to Study Viral Outbreak Survivors (
Phys.org) With a new $15 million grant, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute are gearing up for an in-depth study of survivors of viral outbreaks. The grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will support the efforts of the TSRI-led Center for Viral Systems Biology to fight Ebola and Lassa viruses.
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Brazil Battles Yellow Fever--And A 'Dangerous' Anti-Vaccination Campaign (
Washington Post) With cases of yellow fever multiplying in Brazil, Paula Muniz, a 42-year-old accountant, was considering whether to get vaccinated. Then she saw a viral Facebook post about a teenage girl's supposedly fatal reaction after receiving the vaccine, and she decided it was a firm no for her, her 14-year-old son and her husband.
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Apple's Move to Share Health Care Records is a Game-Changer (
Wired) In late January, Apple previewed an iOS feature that would allow consumers to access their electronic health records on their phones. Skeptics said the move was a decade too late given a similar (and failed) effort from Google. Optimists argued that Apple was capable of translating health data into something meaningful for consumers.
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Science & Technology
In the Future We Won't Edit Genomes--We'll Just Print Out New Ones (
MIT Technology Review) At least since thirsty Sumerians began brewing beer thousands of years ago,
Homo sapiens has had a tight relationship with
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the unicellular fungus better known as brewer's yeast. Through fermentation, humans were able to harness a microscopic species for our own ends. These days yeast cells produce ethanol and insulin and are the workhorse of science labs.
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Horsepox Synthesis: A Case of the Unilateralist's Curse? (
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) Horsepox is a virus brought back from extinction by biotechnology. In 2016, the Canadian researcher Ryan Noyce, along with colleagues, synthesized a copy of horsepox DNA from the virus's published DNA sequence, placed it into a cell culture alongside another poxvirus, and in this way recovered copies of "live" horsepox virus.
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New CRISPR Tools Can Detect Infections Like HPV, Dengue, and Zika (
The Verge) Scientists are harnessing the same technology behind the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR to develop cheap devices that can quickly diagnose infections. These systems, described in new research, have the potential to revolutionize how we detect and respond to viruses like HPV and Zika, especially in developing countries.
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Other 21st Century Threats
