How the deadliest virus in human history paved the way for new cures
1 year, 4 months ago

How the deadliest virus in human history paved the way for new cures

The Hindu  

This is part II of a two-part story on the virus that caused the Great Influenza epidemic. The applicants wanted to recreate the H1N1 influenza virus – which had killed around 50 million people in an outbreak in 1918 – from its genetic material. He was wrong: the H1 and N1 genes of the 1918 virus made the laboratory strain so virulent that within five days, all the infected mice had died. He found that while all eight pieces of the virus’s genetic material caused severe disease, two in particular stood out: the haemagglutinin and the RNA polymerase genes. He had inserted pieces of the 1918 H1N1 virus inside a regular laboratory strain and found that doing so increased the virulence of the laboratory strain.

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History of this topic

The story of how the deadliest virus to humans was revived
1 year, 4 months ago

The story of how the deadliest virus to humans was revived

The Hindu  

This is part I of a two-part story on the virus that caused the Great Influenza epidemic. Meet H and N In 1995, molecular pathologist Jeffery Taubenberger, who was working on the influenza virus, was trying to understand why some strains of the virus caused pandemics while others didn’t. Taubenberger realised that in order to do that, he needed to …

675,722 and counting: US COVID-19 deaths surpass 1918 flu estimates
3 years, 3 months ago

675,722 and counting: US COVID-19 deaths surpass 1918 flu estimates

Firstpost  

The latest grim milestone comes as the country is experiencing a fourth wave driven by the highly contagious Delta variant Washington: Despite a century of medical advances, more Americans have now died from COVID-19 than the number who succumbed to the 1918 flu pandemic, according to new data. The latest grim milestone comes as the country is experiencing a fourth-wave …

Viral Photo of a Disinfectant from the Last Pandemic is a Reminder That This Too Shall Pass
4 years, 5 months ago

Viral Photo of a Disinfectant from the Last Pandemic is a Reminder That This Too Shall Pass

News 18  

Six months into 2020, and we’ve added new words into our vocabulary, and life: Pandemic. Not so long ago in recent times, there was a pandemic in 2009 itself – less than 11 years ago, even though many seem to have forgotten it. The H1N1 pandemic of 2009, also called ‘swine flu’ was one of the descendants of the strain …

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