BOX 3-3Alternative Research Methods with Potentially Less Risk

  • Molecular dynamical modeling of influenza proteins and interactions with inhibitors and receptor
  • In vitro studies of specific properties required for human adaptation, using single proteins
  • In vitro studies of genetic interactions between loci in one or several viral proteins using replication-incompetent viruses – epistatic interactions
  • Sequence database comparisons of genetic properties of human and avian adapted viruses
  • Comparisons of human seasonal isolates and zoonotic isolates from infected humans and avian isolates

SOURCE: Lipsitch and Galvani, PLoS Med included in Kawaoka's symposium presentation, 2014.

From: 3, Gain-of-Function Research: Background and Alternatives

Cover of Potential Risks and Benefits of Gain-of-Function Research
Potential Risks and Benefits of Gain-of-Function Research: Summary of a Workshop.
Board on Life Sciences; Division on Earth and Life Studies; Committee on Science, Technology, and Law; Policy and Global Affairs; Board on Health Sciences Policy; National Research Council; Institute of Medicine.
Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Apr 13.
Copyright 2015 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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