'Biological antivirus software' could prevent the next global pandemic

Speaking of human preparations before the epidemic at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Gates issued a warning: "People who have not recently witnessed a global pandemic do not mean one. Deadly pandemic will not happen in the future ".

According to Bill Gates, there are three main threats to humans: nuclear war, climate change and the next global pandemic.

To prepare for the worst, "the first and most important thing is that we have to build a new arsenal - it's vaccines, drugs and diagnostics , " Gates said.

Some scientists are using computers to do just that.

Exceeds the immune system

Although there are flu shots, according to a report from the World Health Organization, seasonal flu is still the cause of millions of serious illnesses and the deaths of about half a million people globally. year. The "partial efficacy" feature of vaccinations each year, along with long production times and limited supply in the world, suggests that we still need new flu cures.

That's just seasonal flu. As for pandemic flu, similar to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, it could kill tens of millions of people in just one year.

Antibodies in the natural immune system of humans are frontline soldiers in the fight against viruses. The task of an antibody is to identify and cling to an "intruder" as strange as a flu virus. Human antibodies have a two-dimensional structure, in other words they have "hands" to cling to the virus.

Under a microscope, the flu virus is shaped like a microscopic sphere with buds. Thanks to the spines on the surface it can penetrate into human cells. By sticking a spiny bud with one or both hands, antibodies can prevent flu viruses from infecting human cells. However, each year the influenza virus evolves very rapidly and selects mutations from papillae proteins that cause human adhesion antibodies to no longer identify the virus.

Researchers have long been looking for a flu vaccine for all subjects and do not need to re-vaccinate each year. Efforts to produce the vaccine are often through injecting a virus-like virus and not infecting the body in the hope that the human immune system will actively attack any real flu strain later. this. Although some progress has been made, researchers have yet to make the immune system prevent all strains of flu, and the threat of a global pandemic is still lurking.

Scientists can use computer programs to design new antiviral proteins.(Source: ibreakstock / Shutterstock).

Software that defeats the flu

Computer protein design can be the solution. Instead of relying on the immune system to create an antibody protein that blocks flu-like viruses, computer models can quickly help create customized antiviral proteins programmed to block a virus. Deadly.

Unlike vaccines, this drug can be used to treat existing or used infections a few days before exposure. Because the design proteins work independently of the immune system, their effects do not depend on whether the immune system is healthy or not - a very useful trait especially for people with inherent weak immune systems. High risk of virus infection.

The way that computer-made antiviral proteins work is like some natural proteins in the human immune system. Thanks to the antiviral protein surface, there is a chemical combination with the virus, which can adhere closely to a specific virus. If a protein adheres to a virus properly, it can prevent the virus from moving and as a result prevent infection.

By designing an antiviral protein on a computer, developing it in the laboratory and then injecting it into the body, you have effectively digitized part of the immune system.

In 2016, computer-generated proteins proved to be more effective than oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in preventing deaths in flu-infected mice. A dose of nasal design protein is more effective than 10 doses of Tamiflu, a drug that according to the WHO is "essential medicine" for its effective flu resistance. Furthermore, flu-resistant proteins made by the computer also protect mice against different strains of influenza. Efforts to turn these promising results into drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are underway.

In a recently published article by Nature Biotechnology, scientists at the University of Washington Protein Design Institute have gone one step further in proving a new way to prevent influenza: computer models has been used to create a new antiviral protein with a "three-handed" structure .

Why three? Many deadly viruses - such as influenza, Ebola and HIV - create sheath proteins from symmetrical three-part structures.

An equally symmetrical "three-handed" antiviral drug will stick to each part of each spike protein, resulting in tighter viral adhesion and better overall anti-viral efficacy. This geometric success is more effective than the immune system in humans.

The design strategy has been effective. The protein with the best "three-handed" structure is named Tri-HSB.1C , which can adhere closely to different flu strains. When tested in mice, it also protects mice completely against a deadly strain of influenza and only causes a minimal reduction in body mass - a factor commonly used to diagnose the severity of influenza. in the mouse. Researchers are now applying similar tools to the shoots of the Ebola virus.

It will take many years before this new technology is adopted to apply to people with any virus strain. But we may not have to wait too long to see its benefits in saving lives.

Diagnose the virus

By coating a three-dimensional structure that adheres to the virus on a piece of paper and dropping flu samples on top, the Washington University team has discovered the presence of viral proteins on the surface even when the virus concentration very low. The detection system proves the ability (POC) to be converted into a reliable and on-site diagnostic tool with various viruses by detecting them in saliva or blood. Like a pregnancy test, the lines on the sample can help people identify whether they have the flu or Ebola or the rapidly spreading global pandemic.

In a 2015 letter to the New England Journal of Medicine about lessons learned from the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Bill Gates describes the world's lack of preparation as "global failure."

"Perhaps the only good thing after the horrific Ebola epidemic is the wake-up to the world," Gates said (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are investing in a protein design project at Washington University).

According to Ian Haydon, a biochemical doctoral student at the University of Washington, when there is a global pandemic virus like the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, biological anti-virus software can play an important role in Save millions of lives.