Virus evolution insights may boost gene therapy
Wednesday November 30th 2022
Study of the evolution of viruses in mammals over millions of years may improve the use of viral vectors for gene therapy, researchers have announced.
Dr Rob Gifford at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, UK, and colleagues examined parvoviruses. Certain forms of parvovirus are used as gene therapy vectors for genetic disease treatments.
The researchers focused on “fossilised” virus DNA sequences in animal genomes and were able to reconstruct their long-term evolutionary history.
This highlighted various distinct parvoviruses that have evolved in mammals over millions of years.
Different parvoviruses have developed different specialised properties, such as a tendency to infect different organ systems.
The research was published yesterday in *PLoS Biology*. It outlines how virus evolution reflects the adaptation of each viral genus to fill a "distinct ecological niche".
The authors state that parvovirus diversity "has important implications for their development
as therapeutic tools - we show that these endeavours can now be approached from a rational foundation
based on comparative evolutionary analysis".
Dr Gifford hopes that this knowledge will lead to improved gene therapies, with different parvovirus
types used for better targeting of the therapies.
He said: “This study reveals exciting insights into the long term evolutionary history of an important virus group.
"Parvovirus gene therapy is a cutting-edge biomedical technology. Our findings suggest that studying the natural biology and evolutionary history of parvoviruses can inform the rational design of vectors for safer and more effective gene therapies.”
Gifford, R. J. et al. Comparative analysis reveals the long-term co-evolutionary history of parvoviruses and vertebrates. *PLoS Biology* 29 November 2022
Tags: Flu & Viruses | Genetics | Pharmaceuticals | UK News
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