UCLA Bioinformatics Program

Speaker: Edward Holmes, NIH Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Department of Biology; Penn State Univ.

When: Mon, Mar 31, 2008

Where: CNSI Auditorium

Abstract:
Recent developments in complete viral genome sequencing, antigenic (phenotypic) mapping, comparative (bioinformatic) analysis and epidemiological modeling have overturned outdated models of influenza evolution that were based on limited genetic data. In this lecture I will survey what several breakthrough studies have revealed about the range of complex mechanisms by which influenza virus evolves both in humans and its avian reservior species. I will consider a number of key topics: (i) the evolution of avian influenza virus (AIV) in wild birds; (ii) the ‘short-term’ and ‘local’ evolution of human influenza A virus; (iii) the evolutionary genomics of human influenza A virus (and at a global epidemiological scale; (iv) the intra-host evolution of influenza A virus, and (iv) the evolution of drug (adamantane) resistance in human influenza A virus. I will also highlight outstanding gaps in understanding and remaining controversies in influenza evolution, as well as what types of data set and bioinformatic analyses are required to address these key questions

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