Nipah Virus: the next epidemic?

 A 14 year old boy has been reported to have died from a Nipah Virus infection.  This happened in Kerala state in India.  This location is an area of concern and there have been multiple deaths from Nipah virus since 2018.  

There is a high potential for an outbreak originating in the Kerala area to become an epidemic. 

Can GRFT (griffithsin) play a role in preventing the spread of this lethal virus?  

A 2020 paper published in The Journal of Infectous Diseases details in vitro research and from the results of this study concludes "Our findings, taken together with the favorable pharmacokinetic and safety profiles of GRFT, make Q-GRFT an excellent candidate for further preclinical evaluation against NiV infection."

sources:

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj50d7e9vp6o

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7199786/

Year of the elusive plasmid

 For the last year, starting in July 2023, we at CCL have been attempting to assemble and verify a plasmid to use in the transformation of rice plants.  Two scientists from Johns Hopkins University visited us last July.  They brought the insert containing the gene to express GRFT.  Having no previous experience with plasmid assembly, this task involves a learning curve for me.  There have been multiple fails which are among other things, teachers.   We try not to repeat the same mistakes and like to think we are making progress.  

The situation with CCL seems more hopeful than it was during the last post I made here.  CAST is stepping in to see if they can purchase the Omni Commons.  In that case our lab is secured from having to wander about looking for a new home.   

It's an interesting summer that hasn't left much time for posting on this blog.  We're still alive and kickin'.