Ebola studies may become less hazardous

MADISON, Wis., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have devised a technique that might allow researchers to study the deadly Ebola virus in other than a few highly specialized laboratories.

Ebola, an emerging public health concern in Africa and a potential biological weapon, ranks among the most feared of Earth's exotic pathogens with no vaccines or treatments available. And, due to its virulent nature, scientists studying the virus work under the most stringent biocontainment protocols, limiting research to a few highly specialized labs.

Now, however, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed a way genetically to disarm the virus, effectively confining it to a set of specialized cells and making the agent safe to study under conditions far less stringent than those currently imposed.

"We wanted to make biologically contained Ebola virus," said Professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka, senior author of a paper describing the system for containing the virus that kills up to 90 percent of its human victims.

The system devised by Kawaoka and his colleagues could provide a way to greatly expand studies of the pathogen and speed the development of countermeasures.

The research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.