The swine flu virus is close to pandemic level and is a new strain of influenza “A” virus subtype H1N1. In the United Kingdom, researchers at the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control, have been working hard and recently generated the first genetic fingerprint of the swine flu. This code is the first step towards creating a vaccine for the deadly virus. This genetic code has been made publicly available to scientists around the world in the hope that a vaccine will be discovered in the near future. The discovery of the swine flu genetic code is vitally important as it provides information relating to how the virus behaves and is transmitted between humans.
Researchers, Jonathan Allen and Tom Slezak from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducted a study on the genetic code and its key genetic markers. The researchers used reverse engineering principles to search for class specific amino acid mutations that were conserved in past pandemic viruses. In order to do this, the researchers used proteomes; which are the entire collection of amino acids that are made when all the genes of an organism are expressed. In simple terms, the researchers scanned the proteins that previous pandemic strains expressed and looked for repeated patterns across the strains. They found that the swine flu has only half the key genetic markers found in previous pandemic influenza strains. Slezak stated that the findings suggest that the swine flu lacks many of the attributes that have made previous strains deadly, however this lack of similarity does not mean it will not be a major problem. The recent findings of the swine flu genetic code have been of great benefit; however there is concern about possible mutations of the virus and more research is required in order to combat this potential pandemic virus.
Sources:
1. C.Nordquist. Fingerprint of Swine Flu Virus Infecting Humans in Europe www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149463.php (published 09/05/09)
2. Swine Flu has only Half the Genetic Markers seen in Previous Pandemic Strains www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149165.php (published 09/05/09)
3. UK Swine Flu Genetics Unravelled http://new.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8040000.stm (published 8/05/09)
