It’s late summer and a new influenza virus strain has appeared in chickens across the country. It’s an H1N1 strain of Influenza A, like the Spanish flu that caused one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, back in 1918. In that case too it started as an avian flu that mutated and jumped directly from birds to humans. You are a researcher at the NIH and the President gives you 24 hours to predict the chances that this could turn into the next “Spanish flu”. They also ask you to present a plan for a vaccine that will specifically target this new strain. The full sequence of the Spanish flu virus is available and is also known which mutations where key to confer it both high infectivity and high virulence. Also the frequency of mutations of this family of viruses is known. Samples of the new strain currently infecting chickens are also available to you. You are at the NIH laboratories in Bethesda, MD, and you have infinite resources (equipment and staff) at your disposal. Remember: Influenza viruses are ssRNA(-), enveloped viruses, see diagram below: QUESTION: In three sentences or less tell me how you would go about to answer the President’s requests.

Biology Today and Tomorrow without Physiology (MindTap Course List)
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Author:Cecie Starr, Christine Evers, Lisa Starr
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Chapter10: Biotechnology
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It’s late summer and a new influenza virus strain has appeared in chickens across the country.
It’s an H1N1 strain of Influenza A, like the Spanish flu that caused one of the deadliest pandemics in human
history, back in 1918. In that case too it started as an avian flu that mutated and jumped directly from birds
to humans.
You are a researcher at the NIH and the President gives you 24 hours to predict the chances that this could
turn into the next “Spanish flu”. They also ask you to present a plan for a vaccine that will specifically target
this new strain.
The full sequence of the Spanish flu virus is available and is also known which mutations where key to
confer it both high infectivity and high virulence. Also the frequency of mutations of this family of viruses is
known.
Samples of the new strain currently infecting chickens are also available to you.
You are at the NIH laboratories in Bethesda, MD, and you have infinite resources (equipment and staff) at
your disposal.
Remember: Influenza viruses are ssRNA(-), enveloped viruses, see diagram below:
QUESTION:
In three sentences or less tell me how you would go about to answer the President’s requests.
 
 
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