The Growing Phenomenon of ‘Frozen’ Virus Genome Sequences and Their Likely Origin in Research Facility Escapes
Steven E Massey, Paolo Calistri · 2024
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Description
Steven Massey examines virus genome sequences that look frozen in time, in a paper from twenty twenty-four. Such sequences come from outbreaks yet barely differ from strains sampled decades earlier. As routine sequencing grows, more of these odd cases keep surfacing across flu, polio, and other viruses.
Massey argues the likely source is escape from research facilities, often tied to vaccine work using live historical strains. A release of an old strain is easy to spot from its genome, he notes. A brand-new virus, by contrast, hides unless its sequence was shared first. He urges routine sequencing and publication of every pathogenic strain used in labs or vaccine plants, so future escapes can be traced fast.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Steven E Massey, Paolo Calistri |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 17 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |