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The complexity of the spread of flu virus
Posted on September 05, 2008
When influenza viruses with different genetic make-up co-infect a cell there is the possibility that they will mix their genetic endowments. The influenza virus is designed to do only one thing: make a copy of itself. It does this by tricking the host's protein manufacturing machinery to use the virus's genetic blueprint to make a viral copy. Influenza genes come in eight discrete packages and at some point these genetic segments are naked in the cell. If the segments of two viruses are in the cell at the same time the segments can mix and match, with some of the segments of one virus being pa...
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