Adrian Gibbs, who worked at the Australian National University in Canberra for 39 years before hanging up her blouse in 05, came up with this hypothesis, although his specialty is the virus of the potato he is no stranger to the genetics of flu or controversy. He previously published studies science and Nature question the supposed origin of birds from the strain of the 1918 influenza epidemic
As Gibbs explained science Insider the last epidemic has taken him across the public databases and compare the genes of recently discovered a (H1N1), which is a mixture of swine, avian, and human-influenzae with his closest ancestors. He confirmed, as others have reported that six of the eight genes appear to come from North America and two others came from Eurasia, which suggested to him that there were two parental viruses which had "reassortant" (fluspeak for handset).
Gibbs, who still lives in Canberra, then took this seemingly innocuous idea in a field which has been the eyes of influenza experts are wide. Gibbs said he discovered that eight genes of the viruses have evolved at a much faster pace than expected. Basically, he calculated this by looking at the virus mutation rate known flu and comparing the changes in the new strain with changes in its closest relatives. "It is clear that all eight genes have accelerated since 7 years," Gibbs said. "It struck me as really, really strange." He could not imagine how a parent strain could. "But how the hell are two viruses do?" He asks.
traversed Google, Gibbs found a possible explanation. "I came across an ad for a vaccine against influenza in pigs that contained three viruses different, "he said. the vaccine was supposed to contain killed versions of the virus, but there was a laboratory accident and some had survived? specifically, the two human vaccines and pigs manufacturers use eggs grow the virus, Gibbs notes that studies have shown that this odd bird environment can accelerate their evolution. If these viruses are not properly killed, they could have reassortant in a pig and created the new H1N1 strain. "do not kill the virus could explain it very carefully, but it is only one of many possibilities, "says Gibbs.
When Gibbs phoned someone he would describe as a WHO friend who was "in the thick of it", he said there was silence on the other end of the line . the friend agreed to read and circulate a paper Gibbs wrote that Gibbs sent May 8 the story soon leaked to the press, and the document has quickly made its way to other leaders of the effort against the swine flu, including the chief of the influenza division of the CDC, Nancy Cox. "the premise that the rate of evolution of individual genes in this virus is faster than normal is false," said Cox, who has made many studies on the evolution of influenza. Cox said that Gibbs chose former bad virus to calculate how the change took place. in fact, he had not calibrated their clock, she said. " it gets artificially faster rates of evolution, "says Cox. "So there is no need to postulate another host, either eggs or other natural hosts."
Cox points out that CDC has an open mind on the possible origins of the virus, and as part of its own routine analysis had looked for signs of contamination or laboratory error. "We had all these basic analysis early and had no indication that there was not natural for these viruses," says Cox. And it noted that CDC puts the viral sequences in public databases so that investigators such as Gibbs can make alternative analyzes. "This is what scientific research is all about," she said. "And when someone says that the origin could not have been natural, it is important for us to go back and look at this methodology to understand Therefore this research has achieved the results it by. "
the bottom line is that Cox, Palese, and others say that there is no need to invoke a complicated theory the origin of H1N1. "Our level of understanding of influenza viruses and how they evolve and restocking in nature is such that assuming this is a huge stretch, because we know that Mother nature is so creative and so provides reassortant of different genes, "says Cox.
Gibbs said he did not mind criticism of his idea, and he presented his paper to an open access journal so that he can receive adequate ventilation. "scientists are trained to be iconoclasts, not to believe what they're told," he said. "And they do not believe until they really had a good go at it."
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