[IP] SARS genome sequence drafted

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Title:  SARS genome sequence drafted

------ Forwarded Message
From: Ticknor S <tick0001@algonquincollege.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 00:19:00 -0400
To: Farber Dave <dave@farber.net>
Subject: SARS genome sequence drafted

Hello Dave, here is a followup on a previous submission. It appears the  
BCCDC has a working draft of the SARS virus genome.

your pal,
scotty technoir

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Obi Griffith" <obigriffith@hotmail.com>
> Date: Dima avri 13, 2003  7:13:08  PM Canada/Eastern
>
> Subject: SARS assoc. virus sequenced
>
> Hey everyone,
>  
> Check out these news releases.  We finished the draft assembly of the  
> (possible) SARS virus.  Everyone in my group worked 40 hours straight  
> from Friday morning until last night just before midnight with only a  
> 3hour nap in between.  The people in the lab had a similar crazy  
> schedule earlier in the week producing the libraries and sequencing  
> them.  I hope the virus actually turns out to cause SARS.  Otherwise  
> we might have to go through it all again for another virus.
> http://www.bcgsc.ca/bioinfo/SARS/
>  
> http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=%7B8A84F195-3630-43FD-9951-
> 5B1D84CA7053%7D
>  
> Obi.

---

---

  B.C. team unravels SARS

Charlie Anderson

The Province

Sunday, April 13, 2003

Scientists at the B.C. Cancer Agency have made a major breakthrough in 
solving the puzzle of the killer virus known as SARS. The Vancouver 
scientists are the first to crack the genetic code of the Severe Acute 
Respiratory Syndrome virus -- which will speed the diagnosing of 
victims of the often-fatal disease and help with the work of finding a 
vaccine.
The group, working out of the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, 
made the discovery at 4 a.m. yesterday. A spokesman for the World 
Health Organization in Geneva called it "an extraordinary step."
"I knew it would happen quickly," said Dick Thompson. "And frankly, I 
thought that the CDC [U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta] 
would get it done first." The local scientists have been working around 
the clock for the past six days. Yesterday, some were still hard at it, 
their computers competing for space with the pizza and sugary snacks 
that fuelled their work.
The road to the discovery began in late March with a conversation 
between Dr. Marco Marra, director of the local centre, and Dr. Caroline 
Astell, the project's leader.
"We were at a conference at UBC and Marco said, 'Let's do it,'" Astell 
recalls A trace of the virus was taken to the ultra-secure National 
Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, where it was grown and purified. The 
genetic material was then rushed to Vancouver.

Some 30 researchers temporarily dropped their regular cancer-genome 
investigation to get the work done as quickly as possible. Some got by 
with just two or three hours' sleep.
"This was relevant to a public-health situation; it wasn't a typical 
research program," Marra said. "It was important to produce it quickly."
As soon as the genetic sequence was finished, it was posted on the 
World Wide Web for use by other international health researchers.

Its importance?

"It will lead to the rapid development of very sensitive diagnostic 
tests to determine if people are infected by the virus by looking at 
the genome of the virus," said Astell.
"You'll also be able to look to see if viral proteins are there, and 
also whether people have made antibodies to those viral proteins.
"It will allow people to use a more intelligent approach to designing 
anti-virals that might block the replication of the virus."

Astell says the latest literature has pegged the corona virus as the 
most likely suspect in the SARS epidemic. Anca Petrescu, a 
computational biologist with the team, said the team's people were 
thrilled by the early-morning discovery.
"We had been working on the sequence and once the sequence came, we 
worked as much as we could," said Petrescu.
"It's so interesting, you don't want to stop. It was great. We were 
elated."

Astell said that Friday was a sleepless night for her, too.
"I checked my e-mails at 1 a.m. and there was nothing. I thought that 
was bad news."
"And then I checked at five [a.m.] and it was there. I think it's an 
important achievement, but it doesn't deter us from the cancer research 
we are doing.
"This is a fantastic group of people."

canderson@png.canwest.com


SARS CASES
The following is a breakdown of suspected or probable SARS cases 
worldwide:

- Canada: 274 cases, 13 deaths.
- China: 1,336 cases, 60 deaths.
- Hong Kong: 1,109 cases, 36 deaths.
- Malaysia: 51 cases, one death.
- Singapore: 140 cases, nine deaths.
- Taiwan: 23 cases, 0 deaths.
- U.S.: 166 cases, 0 deaths.
- Global total: 3,242 cases, 126 deaths.

Sources: World Health Organization, national health officials.

© Copyright  2003 The Province


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