Director of the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis at Georgia State University, Christopher Basler, has been working with other researchers to change the genome of the Ebola virus. They managed to modify the VP35 protein in the virus, allowing it to be combated by the early immune response in animals. In doing this, they made a strain of Ebola that is safe for researchers to work with. When given to monkeys, the altered strain provoked an immune response when the monkeys were exposed to the wildtype Ebola.
Basler intends to further his research to eventually develop a drug that can modify the VP35 protein in the same was as he did in the lab, or even use the strain of Ebola to create a vaccine to prevent future cases.
Article: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-09-18/tiny-genetic-tweak-may-stop-ebola-virus-in-its-tracks
Related Article: https://news.gsu.edu/2019/09/17/biomedical-sciences-researchers-find-building-mutations-into-ebola-virus-protein-disrupts-ability-to-cause-disease-and-activates-protective-immunity/
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