Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have discovered details about the molecular effects of the smallpox virus, helping to shed light on why the disease is such a devastating killer. In one of two companion articles published in this week’s advance online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, David A. Relman, MD, associate professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology, and his colleagues identify a number of distinctive molecular events that occur in monkeys following infection with the smallpox virus that do not occur in monkeys infected with a different virus. They hope their findings will lead to better strategies for combating the highly contagious and frequently fatal disease. Their work provides a foundation for future testing of better vaccines, potential drugs for treatment, and new diagnostic tools, especially during the early stages of smallpox infection. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
