# 4210
Although the press release came out on December 22nd, the news media is just now taking notice of a study that will look at the effect of rising global temperatures on viral mutation.
Utilizing a $911,000 grant from the NIH, a group of scientists will conduct a study to see if viruses can become more likely to mutate as temperatures rise.
Science Daily has a summary of the project, entitled:
Will Higher Global Temperatures Make It Easier for Viruses to Jump Species?
You’ll find excerpts from the University of Iowa’s press release below.
It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Mutivity
Tuesday, December 22 2009
Written by Ken Kingery
MOSCOW, Idaho – An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Idaho soon will begin investigating whether viruses that have adapted to higher temperatures – similar to increases due to global warming – can jump species more easily.
Thanks to a $911,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, a group that includes a computational biophysicist, an evolutionary biologist and a mathematician will conduct the study. Their results could shed light on the characteristics of host-switching viruses – such as the avian flu or H1N1 – in a world of increasing temperatures.
“It’s a pretty simple experiment, but it’s a wild ass idea,” said Holly Wichman, professor of biology and the evolutionary biologist of the group.
“But, if it turns out that our idea is right, it could have enormous implications,” added Marty Ytreberg, professor of physics and the computational biophysicist of the group.
The virus being studied is known as bacteriophage fX174. It was the first genome ever sequenced and often is used by scientists who study evolution because it has a small genome and multiplies quickly. This allows mutations and evolution to occur rapidly.
Through previous experiments together, the team observed mutations that allow the virus to survive in higher temperatures might also increase the stability of the capsid – the protein shell that encloses the genetic material of a virus. If true, this increased stability may make the virus more mutable, more likely to mutate and thus have an increased ability to jump hosts.
To test the theory, the virus will be subjected to mutations that are known to enable it to survive at higher temperatures. Then, the team will investigate if this ability results in more stabilizing mutations than the original strain that lives at lower temperatures. The team also will investigate whether or not the stabilizing mutations allow the virus to switch hosts more easily.
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