The fascinating, surprising world of viruses

The writer is a former school principal Cambridge, UK

THE world is only just recovering from the scourge of the Covid pandemic caused by a highly virulent and often fatal virus.

In 1918-1919 a flu virus, the Spanish Flu, killed up to 100 million people worldwide. This was one of, if not the, deadliest viruses in recorded history.

Calling it the Spanish Flu was almost certainly a misnomer. Whilst it is true that the Spanish were the first to go public with news of a deadly flu-like illness cutting a swathe of death through people, the warring nations in the First World War were already aware of this and may even have been partly responsible for its rapid spread throughout the world.

The main combatants in World War One, Britain, France, Germany and the US, kept it secret so as not to demoralise their troops. At the height of the pandemic it was often the case that more soldiers were dying from Spanish Flu than from the enemy’s weapons.

Through lack of knowledge or through negligence- probably a bit of both - those conducting the war would often place their soldiers in great danger by barracking them or by transporting them in close proximity.

Many thousands of US troops were transported by ship to France when the US authorities were fully aware or should have been aware, of the dangers this posed.

A tragic example of this was when the USS Leviathan headed for France in late September 1918 with 11,000 American soldiers on board, 2,000 of whom were known to be infected.

It was reported that 70 soldiers died during the voyage, 14 more died at the French port on their arrival and hundreds more died after being admitted to hospitals in France.

Having read the above it may come as a surprise to you when I say that viruses fascinate me and can be a force for good. As a teenager Mohammad Sharif Tabeboordar was deeply upset as he watched his father’s health gradually decline after contracting Muscular Dystrophy (MD), a disease in which defective genes cause the breakdown of muscle tissue leading to distressing symptoms such as muscle pain, uncontrollable stiffness in your limbs and spasms in your legs and arms.

Depending on the type of MD it can be fatal. Mohammad was shocked to discover that there was no cure for this debilitating disease. Having learned that just one gene was at the root of most genetic muscle diseases including MD he said, “I thought fixing it should be simple since we know what gene is defective and if we can just replace that one (defective) gene, that would be it. So why is it taking so long?”

He eventually took a doctorate in regenerative biology and became one of the most eminent medical researches in the world who developed a gene therapy, experimenting on mice, that could correct all muscle wasting diseases.

We are used to hearing scientists talk about finding ways to combat viruses that cause us harm. Most recently the world suffered from the Covid virus.

We hear less about their colleagues uncovering and exploiting viruses to help cure some of the most dangerous diseases known to man.

Connie Cepko, the Bullard Professor of Genetics at the Harvard Medical School, said “we love viruses for all our work” (when finding cures for diseases.) How come? Well it seems that viruses can recognise and enter certain cells in our bodies.

Medical researchers, by changing viruses, use them to carry genetic materials into the genes of these cells. The viruses are then able to replace the genes that are responsible for causing diseases.

Without viruses much of the pioneering work going into gene therapy would not be possible. Not only that but it has been discovered in mice that antibiotics can in certain circumstances damage the lining of the stomach by killing both the good and bad bacteria.

These good or friendly bacteria are often added to probiotic yoghurt and have a number of health benefits essential to keep our guts healthy. By giving mice a norovirus, a virus which causes gastroenteritis, the mice quickly recovered from the damage caused by antibiotics.

It’s at an early stage of development but scientists are hopeful that one day viruses may become a healthy substitute for antibiotics.

The use of viruses has transformed genetic therapy and scientists have only scratched the surface of viruses that can be used for the good. I will leave the last word to Mohammed Sharif who said “We can’t generalise viruses as being harmful.”