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. 2018 Oct 4;14(10):e1007019.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007019. eCollection 2018 Oct.

Synthetic viruses-Anything new?

Volker Thiel  1   2
Affiliations

Synthetic viruses-Anything new?

Volker Thiel. PLoS Pathog. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author is Associate Editor of PLOS ONE and has handled the manuscript "Construction of an infectious horsepox virus vaccine from chemically synthesized DNA fragments" by Noyce et al. The author is a member of the Swiss Expert Committee for Biosafety (SECB), a permanent federal advisory committee that advises the Federal Council and the federal agencies on the drafting of laws, ordinances, guidelines, and recommendations. This does not alter my adherence to all PLOS policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Cloning of synthetic DNA.
The generation of synthetic poxviruses as described by Evans and colleagues and cloning of synthetic DNA using TAR in yeast are illustrated. Synthesized DNA fragments are assembled and cloned in a set of plasmids containing overlapping DNA fragments. Release of cloned DNA fragments from plasmids creates a set of overlapping DNA fragments that can recombine in yeast (TAR cloning) to form a YAC/BAC (left side) or in helpervirus-infected cells to rescue poxviruses (right side). The yeast hub is versatile and allows for the generation of synthetic viruses, bacteria, and even eukaryotic chromosomes. BAC, bacterial artificial chromosome; TAR, transformation-associated recombination; YAC, yeast artificial chromosome.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Noyce RS, Lederman S, Evans DH. Construction of an infectious horsepox virus vaccine from chemically synthesized DNA fragments. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(1):e0188453 10.1371/journal.pone.0188453 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC5774680. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Koblentz GD. The De Novo Synthesis of Horsepox Virus: Implications for Biosecurity and Recommendations for Preventing the Reemergence of Smallpox. Health Secur. 2017;15(6):620–8. 10.1089/hs.2017.0061 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kupferschmidt K. Critics see only risks, no benefits in horsepox paper. Science. 2018;359(6374):375–6. 10.1126/science.359.6374.375 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kupferschmidt K. Labmade smallpox is possible, study shows. Science. 2017;357(6347):115–6. 10.1126/science.357.6347.115 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Group PO. Comment on “Construction of an infectious horsepox virus vaccine from chemically synthesized DNA fragments”. 2018. - PMC - PubMed

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