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World hunger: what the Ebola virus can teach us about saving crops

World hunger: what the Ebola virus can teach us about saving crops | Virology News | Scoop.it
Rapid genetic disease screening will be the key to saving East Africa's crops - just as it was during West Africa's ebola crisis.

When the deadly Ebola virus struck West Africa last year, one thing that became clear was that the region lacked access to quick diagnostic toolsthat could help identify those infected and help contain the virus’s spread.

As the world swung into action to combat the emergency, one crucial factor that helped to curb the epidemic was the arrival of backpacks containing portable genetic sequencing computers – a technology not readily available in the affected countries.

What has that story got to do with world hunger, beyond the fact that both hunger and disease are featured in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals?

If we can bring the same technologies to bear against crop diseases as well as human ones, we can help eradicate hunger – a less newsworthy and more slow-burning problem than Ebola, but far more deadly in terms of the human toll.

Ed Rybicki's insight:

Interesting insight - because in 2007, some of the same folk who wrote this were involved in two workshops that I attended, in Bellagio and in Zanzibar, on setting up a plant disease diagnostic network for Africa.  We had folk from the Rockefeller Foundation there, Gates Foundation too, and we did a lot of good work - to no end, because the proposal did not fly.

Their points are highly valid: I have pointed out elsewhere, and others too, that plant diseases can kill people just as human diseases can.  Indirectly, maybe, and due to lack of food caused by plant pathogens, but taking a deadly toll nonetheless (see here: https://rybicki.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/plvidis-final-11-6-99.pdf).

The sad fact is that there is next to nothing in place in most of Africa for the kinds of molecular diagnostics that folk working with human diseases take for granted.  Oh, there are a few centres in the more sophisticated African countries where ELISA kits can be used, and places like Uganda, Kenya and even Malawi have labs and dedicated people - but these are the exceptions, and the overall picture is dismal.

What we need are comprehensive surveys of crops across Africa, in all of the breadbasket countries that supply most of the maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and the like, and of vegetable-growing areas in all countries, to see what is there.

Once that is known, then surveillance programmes could be set up, to monitor outbreaks of dangerous diseases, insect vector populations and their role in spreading plant disease - and provide information to assess real and potential crop losses.

All it would take is money - and some of the kit that came to Africa for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa recently.  We even have a plan that could be dusted off - and a good Africa-wide network to help make it happen.

Oh, and some political will, and some planning.  That's the difficult bit....

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Virology News
Topical news snippets about viruses that affect people.  And other things. Like Led Zeppelin. And zombies B-)
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Cann's Principles of Molecular Virology - 7th Edition

Cann's Principles of Molecular Virology - 7th Edition | Virology News | Scoop.it

Cann's Principles of Molecular Virology, - 7th Edition, revised by EP Rybicki. Print Book. ISBN 9780128227848. Now published!!


Instructor review copies: click on this link.

https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/qU2qCNxKq0i0ZNRQxcmeDdo

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Attack and defense in the microverse: How small RNA molecules regulate viral infections of bacteria

Attack and defense in the microverse: How small RNA molecules regulate viral infections of bacteria | Virology News | Scoop.it
Viruses need hosts. Whether it's measles, the flu or coronavirus, viral pathogens cannot multiply or infect other organisms without the assistance of their hosts' cellular infrastructure. However, humans are not the only ones affected by viruses: animals, plants and even microorganisms can all...
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Why there may be oceans inside dwarf planets beyond Pluto—and what this means for the likely abundance of life

Why there may be oceans inside dwarf planets beyond Pluto—and what this means for the likely abundance of life | Virology News | Scoop.it
Earth was long thought to be the only planet in our solar system with an ocean, but it is beginning to look as though there are underground oceans inside even the most surprising icy bodies.
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What four decades of canned salmon reveal about marine food webs

What four decades of canned salmon reveal about marine food webs | Virology News | Scoop.it
Alaskan waters are a critical fishery for salmon. Complex marine food webs underlie and sustain this fishery, and scientists want to know how climate change is reshaping them. But finding samples from the past isn't easy.
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Specific and Nonspecific Effects of Influenza Vaccines

Specific and Nonspecific Effects of Influenza Vaccines | Virology News | Scoop.it
With the introduction of the influenza vaccine in the official immunization schedule of most countries, several data regarding the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of influenza immunization were collected worldwide.
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Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Fatigue Effects of an Oral Food Supplement in Long COVID Patients

Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Fatigue Effects of an Oral Food Supplement in Long COVID Patients | Virology News | Scoop.it
Long coronavirus disease (COVID) syndrome leads to chronic inflammatory state onset that can have a multisystem impact and compromise organ function. Moreover, long COVID syndrome is often characterized by the presence of chronic fatigue, which affects subjects’ daily activities and worsens their...
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Novel SARS-CoV-2 mutations found in floodwaters near homeless communities

Novel SARS-CoV-2 mutations found in floodwaters near homeless communities | Virology News | Scoop.it
Study highlights the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and novel spike gene mutations in flood control channels affected by homeless populations, demonstrating the value of environmental surveillance in understanding public health dynamics.
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NASA unveils design for message heading to Jupiter's moon Europa

NASA unveils design for message heading to Jupiter's moon Europa | Virology News | Scoop.it
When it launches in October, the agency's Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a richly layered dispatch that includes more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public.
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Quantitative Assessment of Energetic Contributions of Residues in a SARS-CoV-2 Viral Enzyme/Nanobody Interface

Quantitative Assessment of Energetic Contributions of Residues in a SARS-CoV-2 Viral Enzyme/Nanobody Interface | Virology News | Scoop.it
The highly conserved protease enzyme from SARS-CoV-2 (M<sup>Pro</sup>) is crucial for viral replication and is an attractive target for the design of novel inhibitory compounds.M<sup>Pro</sup> is known to be conformationally flexible and has been stabilized in an extended conformation in a complex...
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mRNA vaccines train T cells in waves, study shows

mRNA vaccines train T cells in waves, study shows | Virology News | Scoop.it
mRNA vaccines developed against the spike glycoprotein of severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), displayed remarkable efficiency in combating coronavirus 19 (COVID-19).
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N6-methyladenosine modification is not a general trait of viral RNA genomes

N6-methyladenosine modification is not a general trait of viral RNA genomes | Virology News | Scoop.it
A comprehensive analysis found no evidence of m6A modifications in the genome of the cytoplasmic RNA viruses CHIKV and DENV, challenging the current notion that m6A modification is a general feature of cytoplasmic RNA viruses.
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Impact of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions during the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Prevalence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Hospitalized Children with Lower Respiratory Tr...

Impact of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions during the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Prevalence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Hospitalized Children with Lower Respiratory Tr... | Virology News | Scoop.it
During the COVID-19 pandemic, nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were implemented in order to control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, potentially affecting the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
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Breakthrough in COVID-19 Battle: New Antiviral Drugs Show Promise in Preclinical Trials

Breakthrough in COVID-19 Battle: New Antiviral Drugs Show Promise in Preclinical Trials | Virology News | Scoop.it
Groundbreaking antiviral drugs discovered by University of Alberta scientists offer new hope in the fight against COVID-19 and future pandemics.
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Self-assembly of complex systems: Hexagonal building blocks are better

Self-assembly of complex systems: Hexagonal building blocks are better | Virology News | Scoop.it
Complex systems in nature, like their synthetic counterparts in technology, comprise a large number of small components that assemble of their own accord through molecular interactions. Gaining a better understanding of the principles and mechanisms of this self-assembly is important for the...
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How plants heal wounds: Mechanical forces guide direction of cell division

How plants heal wounds: Mechanical forces guide direction of cell division | Virology News | Scoop.it
Plants are made up of very rigid cells. Much like bricks in a wall, this feature gives them the structural support to maintain their shape and to stand upright against gravity. However, just like any living organism, plants can be injured, for instance, by wind or animal grazing.
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New research traces the fates of stars living near the Milky Way's central black hole

New research traces the fates of stars living near the Milky Way's central black hole | Virology News | Scoop.it
Despite their ancient ages, some stars orbiting the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole appear deceptively youthful. But unlike humans, who might appear rejuvenated from a fresh round of collagen injections, these stars look young for a much darker reason.
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Mapping lava tubes on the moon and Mars from space

Mapping lava tubes on the moon and Mars from space | Virology News | Scoop.it
Sometimes, all you need for a new discovery is some creative math. That was the case for a new paper by Edward Williams and Laurent Montési of the University of Maryland's Department of Geology. They released a brief paper at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2024) last month that...
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VP4 Mutation Boosts Replication of Recombinant Human/Simian Rotavirus in Cell Culture

VP4 Mutation Boosts Replication of Recombinant Human/Simian Rotavirus in Cell Culture | Virology News | Scoop.it
Rotavirus A (RVA) is the leading cause of diarrhea requiring hospitalization in children and causes over 100,000 annual deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to generate next-generation vaccines against African RVA genotypes, a reverse genetics system based on a simian rotavirus strain was...
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Yale researchers weigh in on new COVID-19 drug 

Yale researchers weigh in on new COVID-19 drug  | Virology News | Scoop.it
Pemgarda, a monoclonal antibody infusion recently authorized by the FDA, could offer a new line of protection for millions of immunocompromised patients.
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Ventilation during COVID-19 in a school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Ventilation during COVID-19 in a school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities | Virology News | Scoop.it
Background This study examined the correlation of classroom ventilation (air exchanges per hour (ACH)) and exposure to CO2 ≥1,000 ppm with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 over a 20-month period in a specialized school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
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Harnessing the mechanisms of fungal bioluminescence to confer autonomous luminescence in plant and animal cells

Harnessing the mechanisms of fungal bioluminescence to confer autonomous luminescence in plant and animal cells | Virology News | Scoop.it
In a striking new study published in Science Advances, a team of synthetic biologists led by Karen Sarkisyan at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, have reported the discovery of multiple plant enzymes—hispidin synthases—that can perform the most complex reaction of the bioluminescence pathway.
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Structural Impact of the Interaction of the Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein with Genomic RNA Segments

Structural Impact of the Interaction of the Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein with Genomic RNA Segments | Virology News | Scoop.it
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) possess a segmented genome consisting of eight viral RNAs (vRNAs) associated with multiple copies of viral nucleoprotein (NP) and a viral polymerase complex. Despite the crucial role of RNA structure in IAV replication, the impact of NP binding on vRNA structure is not...
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Single-Dose Immunogenic DNA Vaccines Coding for Live-Attenuated Alpha- and Flaviviruses

Single-Dose Immunogenic DNA Vaccines Coding for Live-Attenuated Alpha- and Flaviviruses | Virology News | Scoop.it
Single-dose, immunogenic DNA (iDNA) vaccines coding for whole live-attenuated viruses are reviewed. This platform, sometimes called immunization DNA, has been used for vaccine development for flavi- and alphaviruses.
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The Effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the Angiopoietin/Tie Axis and the Vascular Endothelium

The Effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the Angiopoietin/Tie Axis and the Vascular Endothelium | Virology News | Scoop.it
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause potentially life-threatening coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a multisystem disease and is associated with significant respiratory distress, systemic hyperinflammation, vasculitis, and multi-organ failure.
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Myocarditis after Covid-19 Vaccination in a Large Health Care Organization

Original Article from The New England Journal of Medicine — Myocarditis after Covid-19 Vaccination in a Large Health Care Organization...
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A simple and robust method to add functional molecules to peptides

A simple and robust method to add functional molecules to peptides | Virology News | Scoop.it
Peptides are short strands of amino acids that are increasingly used therapeutically, as biomaterials and as chemical and biological probes. The capacity to isolate, manipulate and label peptides and larger proteins is limited, however, by the ability to reliably attach functional molecules, such...
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