Synthetic recombinant bat SARS-like coronavirus is infectious in cultured cells and in mice.

ABSTRACT: Defining prospective pathways by which zoonoses evolve and emerge as human pathogens is critical for anticipating and controlling both natural and deliberate pandemics. However, predicting tenable pathways of animal-to-human movement has been hindered by challenges in identifying reservoir species, cultivating zoonotic organisms in culture, and isolating full-length genomes for cloning and genetic studies. The ability to design and recover pathogens reconstituted from synthesized cDNAs has the potential to overcome these obstacles by allowing studies of replication and pathogenesis without identification of reservoir species or cultivation of primary isolates. Here, we report the design, synthesis, and recovery of the largest synthetic replicating life form, a 29.7-kb bat severe acute resp

SUBMITTER: Becker MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2588415 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature