Seattle School to Study 1918 Flu Virus
Posted on: Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 15:00 CST
University of Washington scientists will use monkeys to study genes preserved from the deadly 1918 influenza virus that killed more than 50 million people.
David Anderson, acting director of the UW's Regional Primate Research Center where the genes are to be tested, told the Seattle Times threats of pandemic flu and bioterrorism have generated many grants from the federal government for research in the field.
Scientists hope their research will result in development of vaccines and medications against the most lethal forms of influenza.
Nearly $5 million, most of it from the National Institutes of Health, is being spent to upgrade the UW's Primate Center in Belltown, Wash., to make it safer for the 1918 flu-virus work.
University officials said the lab could also be used to test anthrax or tularemia vaccines, which would be used to combat bioterrorism.
The UW is collaborating with other institutions in a five-year study of the 1918 virus, the Times said. The genes were constructed after studies of 1918 flu-virus particles salvaged from the bodies of World War I soldiers and an exhumed Alaska resident.
The Spanish Flu pandemic killed an estimated 650,000 Americans and up to 50 million worldwide.
Source: United Press International
Related Articles
- The Aethlon Hemopurifier(R) Proves Effective in Capturing the Reconstructed Spanish Flu of 1918 and H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus
- Bird Flu Viruses Carry Unique Genes, Study Finds
- Bird flu viruses carry unique genes: study
- Gene Tests Show the Bird Flu Virus is Evolving
- Gene tests show bird flu virus is evolving
- Scientists Say Migratory Birds May Carry H5N1 Avian Flu Virus to US Next Year
- Scientists Reconstruct 1918 Flu Virus for Potential Future Pandemic
- Catastrophic Flu Virus of 1918 is Decoded
- Researchers Reconstruct 1918 Flu Virus
- New possibilities for flu antiviral and vaccine research emerge from 'Spanish flu' virus
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds