University of Wisconsin researchers announced this week that
they have created a strand of the Ebola virus unable to replicate in normal
cells, eliminating risks of contamination and allowing more labs to be able to
study the virus.

UW pathobiological professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka and his team
have discovered how to excise the gene the virus needs to replicate and survive
inside a host cell.

Ebola is a virus that has sporadically sprung up in
different sections of Africa since its discovery in 1976. The most recent
outbreak was in Sudan in 2004. The virus regularly kills more than half the
people it infects during an outbreak.

UW spokesperson Terry Devitt said the team has created a
strand of the virus missing the VP30 gene. According to Devitt, this gene is responsible
for creating the protein the virus needs to replicate once inside a host cell.
If the virus is unable to replicate, it becomes harmless.

Kawaoka has created special cells in the lab that exhibit
the VP30 gene. These cells are the only cells in which the virus can obtain the
protein it needs to replicate. This is why the virus can now be handled in less
secure labs.

?He has made the agent more accessible to more researchers,?
Devitt said. ?Research can advance at a faster pace.?

Previously, handling of the Ebola virus was only allowed in
labs with a biosafety level of four, the highest level of safety. Since the
development of the altered virus, Kawaoka has conducted his work at UW on Ebola
in a lab with biosafety level of two.

Devitt said biosafety level four labs are also difficult
places to work in, as they have little space and are expensive.

UW biosafety officer Jan Klein said Kawaoka has already
started working at UW with approval of the UW Institutional Biosafety
Committee.

According to Devitt, though the action is legal, the
National Institute for Health still has the right to stop Kawaoka?s use of the
lower safety-level lab.

Klein added there is no inspection expected by the
government for Kawaoka?s current location. She said she is optimistic about the
new development, its ensured safety and its effect on Ebola research.

?This is a tremendous opportunity to study the virus in a
safe manner,? Klein said.

According to Klein, the previous restriction of having to
use a biosafety level four lab to work with the virus hampered research and
development. She added there are only a few in the entire country.

?We don?t have such a facility in the [UW] System or even
the state,? Klein said. ?When he gains access to such a facility, he gains
access in Canada.?