Identify the gene that lethal in the H5N1 virus

Chinese scientists have identified a gene in the H5N1 virus that is thought to cause the virus's virulence to poultry, paving the way for the development of new, more effective vaccines.

There are many different strains of the H5N1 virus, and some of them have killed more than half of the infected people while others have little or no harm.

"We now understand why the virus is deadly and the molecular basis of this viral disease ," said researcher Bu Zhigao at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute.

Scientists (from the Animal Health Research Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, National Veterinary Biotechnology Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Harbin Veterinary Research Institute) have targeted Entering this dangerous gene after analyzing two strains of H5N1 virus was closely related to each other from infected geese in Guangdong province in 1996 and found only one strain with high pathogen and the other is harmless.

They also found differences between the two strains of the virus in four genes. To draw conclusions about these genes, they created four genetically modified viruses, each containing one of the four genes and tested on chickens. The results showed that only infected birds containing the NS1 gene that could cause high disease were killed, while others showed no signs of infection.

According to the scientists, this finding will help develop a new vaccine capable of neutralizing the effects of NS1.

T.VY