Let me add my congratulations on continuing in the Bioinformatics Internship Program. When you return to your University Centers, we believe your work here will make you a valuable member of the team.
We think you are ready to get started with your research into the possible Avian Flu pandemic. This work you will do in teams and will be using phylogenetics tools. The assignment is an actual activity being conducted right now, following the suspected emergence of influenza A from birds (Avian Influenza, AI, or bird flu) into humans. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 killed as many as 50 million people in 6 months, and many at the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) feel the world is not prepared for what may emerge as a global influenza pandemic.
Please look over the attached Strategic Actions that the WHO has prepared. This will give you an idea of some of the work that has already been done.
In the beginning of this task, your team will spend a little time reading about Influenza, and the progression of the various strains from birds to pigs, which contain receptors for both avian and human flu strains in their trachea. Influenza viruses change over time through three processes: antigenic drift, reassortment (also known as antigenic shift), and recombination.
Antigenic drift occurs when single nucleotides are replaced over time through mutations.
Antigenic shift takes place when two different viruses infect the same cell and new viral particles are created with new combinations or assortments of the 8 influenza molecules of RNA.
Recombination can also occur when two different viruses have infected the same cell. In this case, a new RNA can be created by physically breaking two molecules of viral RNA and joining them together in a new combination.
These three mechanisms for genetic change lead to the continual appearance of new influenza strains.
Pay close attention to the Requirements for this task – a plan for accomplishing this task is detailed there for you.
Good luck!
