Two University of Washington researchers have been working on Ebola research by injecting genetically altered mice to examine if certain genetic combinations can make someone more or less susceptible to Ebola infection.
These trials have traditionally used macaques and guinea pigs or even Syrian hamsters to study this virus—not everyday garden variety lab mice.
“It killed mice, but it didn’t produce hemorrhagic fever symptoms,” reported Michael Katze, microbiology professor at the University of Washington. “When you’re testing drugs and vaccines, it is important that you stop the symptoms that appear in humans. That’s why the nonhuman primates is really financially and ethically difficult.”
Study co-author Angela Rasmussen, microbiology researcher at the University of Washington, comments that “This will ultimately allow us to not only better understand what predisposes an individual with a particular genetic background to either susceptibility or resistance, it will also provide a genetically diverse yet reproducible model in which to test drugs and vaccines,” shares Rasumssen.
She also discusses how rat inbreeding presents foundational problems with this experiment: “Most of the conventional laboratory strains…only have about ten percent of the overall genetic diversity in mice. They’re really more comparable to genetically diverse populations such as humans, but they’re reproducible. We know exactly how one mouse is different from another.”
So for this experiment, they are using Collaborative Cross mice, which are bred intentionally by an international research group. The Collaborative Cross mice cover at least 90 percent of the diversity spectrum of the entire species, which should yield much broader results.
The research paper concludes “The model described in this paper can be implemented promptly to identify genetic markers, conduct meticulous pathogenesis studies, and evaluate therapeutic strategies that have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity against all Zaire Ebola viruses, including the virus responsible for the current West Africa outbreak.”
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These trials have traditionally used macaques and guinea pigs or even Syrian hamsters to study this virus—not everyday garden variety lab mice.
“It killed mice, but it didn’t produce hemorrhagic fever symptoms,” reported Michael Katze, microbiology professor at the University of Washington. “When you’re testing drugs and vaccines, it is important that you stop the symptoms that appear in humans. That’s why the nonhuman primates is really financially and ethically difficult.”
Study co-author Angela Rasmussen, microbiology researcher at the University of Washington, comments that “This will ultimately allow us to not only better understand what predisposes an individual with a particular genetic background to either susceptibility or resistance, it will also provide a genetically diverse yet reproducible model in which to test drugs and vaccines,” shares Rasumssen.
She also discusses how rat inbreeding presents foundational problems with this experiment: “Most of the conventional laboratory strains…only have about ten percent of the overall genetic diversity in mice. They’re really more comparable to genetically diverse populations such as humans, but they’re reproducible. We know exactly how one mouse is different from another.”
So for this experiment, they are using Collaborative Cross mice, which are bred intentionally by an international research group. The Collaborative Cross mice cover at least 90 percent of the diversity spectrum of the entire species, which should yield much broader results.
The research paper concludes “The model described in this paper can be implemented promptly to identify genetic markers, conduct meticulous pathogenesis studies, and evaluate therapeutic strategies that have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity against all Zaire Ebola viruses, including the virus responsible for the current West Africa outbreak.”
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via Smart Health Shop Forum http://forum.smarthealthshop.com/health-wellness/113641-team-studies-genetic-disposition-ebola-infection-lab-rats-diabetes-insider.html
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