'State of the art' science boosts fight against influenza pandemics

10 October 2006

The UK's ability to respond to the threat of an influenza pandemic received a significant boost today. The Wellcome Trust announced that it is awarding £700 000 to fund research using state-of-the-art techniques to monitor and track steps in the emergence of new influenza viruses.

Experts in the fields of human and animal influenza from the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research, the University of Cambridge, the Health Protection Agency and the Veterinary Laboratory Agency will join scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute working on modern sequencing technologies. Together, the team will establish an influenza virus sequencing 'pipeline' to sequence large numbers of viral genomes. Sequencing the genomes of the influenza viruses will allow the researchers to track the development of viruses that may be evolving towards a virus with pandemic potential.

"The current concern about the spread of the highly virulent H5N1 'bird flu' virus has highlighted the urgency with which we need to enhance our ability to respond to the threat of pandemics," says Dr John McCauley from the National Institute for Medical Research, who is leading the collaboration. "In the event of the emergence of any new virus, a detailed understanding of how it may evolve and adapt in a new host is fundamental to assessing the risk of epidemic or pandemic."

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has been a pioneer in sequence analysis and the Pathogen Sequencing Unit has made an exceptional impact in the analysis of many human and animal pathogens, including the malaria parasite and C.difficile, one of the so-called 'superbugs'. Dr McCauley hopes that collaboration between the human and animal virologists and the Pathogen Sequencing Unit will enable scientists to identify and prepare for potential future pandemics.

"We are developing the sequencing 'pipeline' for use in the annual influenza season in the winter months," says Professor Maria Zambon of the Virus Reference Department at the Health Protection Agency. "Sequencing gives us an advanced weapon in the fight against influenza. As well as identifying emerging influenza viruses and tracking diverse strains, it will help inform vaccine manufacturers on which strain of the virus to focus their efforts."

Many of the emerging infections in human or animal populations are RNA viruses, such as the H5N1 or SARS viruses, which are more flexible and adaptable than DNA viruses and are able to jump the species barriers from animal to human more easily. RNA viruses have relatively small genomes that are frequently highly diverse, meaning that the techniques for genetic analysis previously developed need to be adapted. Once the technology has been set up for influenza viruses it could be rapidly applied to other emerging RNA viruses.

"Bringing together expert virologists and world-leaders in genome analysis will provide scientists with vital tools and the evidence base to help identify any present or future threat of influenza pandemics," says Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust. "It is important, too, that, in keeping with Wellcome Trust policy, the data from the study are made freely available to all to enable policy makers and healthcare officials, as well as other scientists, to make all the necessary preparations to limit the impact of a pandemic."

The Wellcome Trust spends over £450 million annually on improving human and animal health. It is the Wellcome Trust's policy that research carried out through its funding is made openly accessible within six months of publishing.

In June, the Trust announced that it was making research into human and avian influenza a priority, ensuring that it is able to 'fast-track' high-quality research proposals in this area.

Contact

Craig Brierley
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
T 020 7611 7329
E c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes for editors

1. The Wellcome Trust is the most diverse biomedical research charity in the world, spending about £450 million every year both in the UK and internationally to support and promote research that will improve the health of humans and animals. The Trust was established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome, and is funded from a private endowment, which is managed with long-term stability and growth in mind.

2. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is funded by the UK tax-payer. It aims to improve human health. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and universities. The MRC has funded work that has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK.

3. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is an independent body that protects the health and wellbeing of the population. The Agency plays a critical role in protecting people from infectious diseases and in preventing harm when hazards involving chemicals, poisons or radiation occur. It also prepares for new and emerging threats, such as a bio-terrorist attack or virulent new strain of disease.

4. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which receives the majority of its funding from the Wellcome Trust, was founded in 1992 as the focus for UK sequencing efforts. The Sanger Institute is responsible for the completion of the sequence of approximately one-third of the human genome as well as genomes of model organisms such as mouse and zebrafish, and more than 90 pathogen genomes. In October 2005, new funding was awarded by the Wellcome Trust to enable the Sanger Institute to build on its world-class scientific achievements and exploit the wealth of genome data now available to answer important questions about health and disease. These programmes are built around a faculty of more than 30 senior researchers. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is based in Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.

5. The University of Cambridge's reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known worldwide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges. As Cambridge approaches its 800th anniversary in 2009, it is looking to the future. It continues to change in response to the challenges it faces. The modern University is an international centre of teaching and research in vast range of subjects: about half of the students study science or technology. Members of Cambridge University have won over 80 Nobel Prizes.

The Cambridge Infectious Diseases Consortium, where the work at Cambridge will be based, is an important initiative in veterinary infectious disease training and research and is based at the vet school.