Current - World Situation on Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)

As of March 2005 many countries are stock piling antiviral drugs to prevent widespread devastation which could be caused by a flu pandemic.Experts say a pandemic is inevitable and will probably emerge in Asia if bird flu mutates with human flu, creating a highly pathogenic new virus. Bird flu viruses normally infect only birds and pigs. There are 15 different strains of the bird flu virus. Since 1959 viruses of the H5, H7 and H9 subtypes have crossed the species barrier to infect humans on 10 occasions.

Most bird flu viruses affecting humans have caused mild respiratory symptoms or conjunctivitis, with one exception the H5N1 strain. The H5N1 strain has caused severe disease with high fatality in 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2005. Studies have shown that the H5N1 strain has, over the years, become progressively more pathogenic and is now much hardier than in the past . It also seems to be expanding its host range to other mammals including species not previously thought to be susceptible to the virus such as tigers and leopards.The outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in poultry that began in Asia in 2003 have to date (end of October 2005), The H5N1 strain has killed more than 60 people in South East Asia since 2003. However, of those only one is suspected to have died after catching the virus from another human.

The majority of the cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults. The H5N1 strain remained largely in South-East Asia until this summer, when Russia and Kazakhstan both reported outbreaks Scientists fear it may be carried by migrating birds to Europe and Africa but say it is hard to prove a direct link with bird migration, although more swans have been found with bird flu in the Danube delta area in Romania.

Real world applications of bioinformatics

1. Molecular medicine

The human genome will have profound effects on the fields of biomedical research and clinical medicine. Every disease has a genetic component. This may be inherited (as is the case with an estimated 3000-4000 hereditary disease including Cystic Fibrosis and Huntingtons disease) or a result of the body's response to an environmental stress which causes alterations in the genome (eg. cancers, heart disease, diabetes..). The completion of the human genome means that we can search for the genes directly associated with different diseases and begin to understand the molecular basis of these diseases more clearly. This new knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of disease will enable better treatments, cures and even preventative tests to be developed.

More drug targets

At present all drugs on the market target only about 500 proteins. With an improved understanding of disease mechanisms and using computational tools to identify and validate new drug targets, more specific medicines that act on the cause, not merely the symptoms, of the disease can be developed. These highly specific drugs promise to have fewer side effects than many of today's medicines.

Personalised medicine

Clinical medicine will become more personalised with the development of the field of pharmacogenomics. This is the study of how an individual's genetic inheritence affects the body's response to drugs. At present, some drugs fail to make it to the market because a small percentage of the clinical patient population show adverse affects to a drug due to sequence variants in their DNA. As a result, potentially life saving drugs never make it to the marketplace. Today, doctors have to use trial and error to find the best drug to treat a particular patient as those with the same clinical symptoms can show a wide range of responses to the same treatment. In the future, doctors will be able to analyse a patient's genetic profile and prescribe the best available drug therapy and dosage from the beginning.

Preventative medicine

With the specific details of the genetic mechanisms of diseases being unravelled, the development of diagnostic tests to measure a persons susceptibility to different diseases may become a distinct reality. Preventative actions such as change of lifestyle or having treatment at the earliest possible stages when they are more likely to be successful, could result in huge advances in our struggle to conquer disease.

Gene therapy

In the not too distant future, the potential for using genes themselves to treat disease may become a reality. Gene therapy is the approach used to treat, cure or even prevent disease by changing the expression of a persons genes. Currently, this field is in its infantile stage with clinical trials for many different types of cancer and other diseases ongoing.

Microbial genome applications

Microorganisms are ubiquitous, that is they are found everywhere. They have been found surviving and thriving in extremes of heat, cold, radiation, salt, acidity and pressure. They are present in the environment, our bodies, the air, food and water. Traditionally, use has been made of a variety of microbial properties in the baking, brewing and food industries. The arrival of the complete genome sequences and their potential to provide a greater insight into the microbial world and its capacities could have broad and far reaching implications for environment, health, energy and industrial applications. For these reasons, in 1994, the US Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the MGP (Microbial Genome Project) to sequence genomes of bacteria useful in energy production, environmental cleanup, industrial processing and toxic waste reduction.By studying the genetic material of these organisms, scientists can begin to understand these microbes at a very fundamental level and isolate the genes that give them their unique abilities to survive under extreme conditions.

Waste cleanupDeinococcus radiodurans is known as the world's toughest bacteria and it is the most radiation resistant organism known. Scientists are interested in this organism because of its potential usefulness in cleaning up waste sites that contain radiation and toxic chemicals.The following articles contain more information:
superbug - cleans up uranium from toxic waste sites Microbial Genome Program (MGP) scientists are determining the DNA sequence of the genome of C. crescentus, one of the organisms responsible for sewage treatment.