[HKPatel7]

ViroCap: Additional Medical Benefits


In the preceding article we analyzed the potential medical gains of the new ViroCap test. However, because the technology is so new there are no comprehensive studies performed on its real world application, which is why all the benefits listed are purely speculative.

At the same time it's effectiveness has been proven through clinical studies.

What follows is a list of additional health-care benefits ViroCap may bring in the future. All opinions are backed by facts and expanded upon through my own reasoned arguments. 

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DIVERGENT STRAINS/BETTER CURES:


Besides its aptitude for detecting every known virus researchers also used ViroCap to identify divergent strains of infectious diseases. During an experiment, they tested multiple samples of the anellovirus, “a highly divergent group of ssDNA viruses which have a common genome structure, but may have up to 30 to 50% nucleotide sequence diversity....”

The results? In the own words:

"targeted sequence capture using...ViroCap [allowed] us to identify variant virus sequences having as low as 58% nucleotide sequence identity."
Genome Research (September 22, 2015)

The above data further emphasizes ViroCap's accuracy: not only does it excel at pinpointing viruses, but it transcends other methods in locating divergent strains.

DIVERGENT STRAINS OF A VIRUS

Being able to identify a particular strain of infection, such as the complex and variable allenovirus, can help scientists to invent better cures—vaccines that specifically target a viral strain rather than the general group to which it belongs.

We saw in the preceding article how the 2014 flu season resulted in thousands of deaths and was declared an epidemic by the Center for Disease Control (dailymail.co.uk), all because standard testing failed to identify the H3N2 strain of Influenza which ViroCap successfully detected.

In fact, “about half of the H3N2 viruses don't match up with the corresponding strain in this year's vaccine (Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy).” 

CREATING NEW VACCINES TO COMBAT FLU STRAINS

A cure is only effective if it works, and knowing how to distinguish between viral subtypes—which ViroCap has been proven to do—allows researchers to react quicker and create vaccines which target those unique subtypes and mutations soon after they happen. 


In the case of anellovirus, “the high degree of sequence variation present in TTV and related anelloviruses can pose technical problems for reliable detection by PCR or other amplification methods (Journal of General Virology).”  But we've seen how ViroCap is far superior to PCR and other technologies, and in the future may completely prevent (or at least reduce) the spread of all epidemics, first through early detection, then through identification of specific strains, both of which result in more effective cures.   

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BROADER USE:


The inventors of ViroCap assert that their test,

 "could also be modified into a tool for broader pathogen identification, which might include a comprehensive set of human pathogens: genes from viruses, bacteria (e.g. toxin genes, antibiotic resistance genes), fungi, protists, and other microbes."
Genome Research (September 22, 2015)

Not only does ViroCap hold the potential to classify viruses and their many variants, but it may be able to determine other pathogens, bacteria, genes and even fungi. This would potentially make the new technology indispensable to doctors, biologists, and environmental scientists.

VARIOUS FUNGI WHICH VIROCAP MAY POTENTIALLY DETECT

Its scope would extend beyond the field of medicine to include natural as well. Furthermore, it wouldn't be limited to diagnosing only viruses, but could also pinpoint bacterial infections and toxins.

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RESEARCH POTENTIAL:


One the most exciting benefits of ViroCap would be to gather data:  

"Its research applications are far reaching, allowing a new, higher resolution view of eukaryotic DNA and RNA viruses in the microbiome. ViroCap should also help realize the potential of MSS as a clinical diagnostic tool that can simultaneously detect viruses as well as provide immediate characterization including taxonomic assignment, strain typing, virulence characteristics, and anti-viral drug resistance genotyping."
Genome Research (September 22, 2015)

RESEARCH SCIENTISTS WORKING ON NEW CURES

In other words, ViroCap's ability to collect vast amounts of data has significant real world functions, including: 

• 1) more detailed images of viruses (helpful for studying infections and learning their complex behaviors and mutations)
  
• 2) rapid virus detection and classification (necessary to build databases of new viruses or to more accurately categorize older ones) 
  
• 3) identifying new viral strains (vital for combating lethal variations of Influenza and preventing epidemics)
  
• 4) understanding how and why viruses are resistant to certain drugs
  

The comprehensive data amassed by ViroCap may not have immediate payoffs, but in time researchers will be able to better understand the way viruses behave, evolve, and build tolerance to medications—all of which are sure to result in better treatments and a healthier society.

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LIST OF SOURCES:


Todd N. Wylie, Kristine M. Wylie, Brandi N. Herter, and Gregory A. Storch. (2015). “Enhanced Virome Sequencing Using Targeted Sequence Capture.” Genome Research. Retrieved from http://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/20...9.115.long


Nye, James. (2014). “America gripped by flu epidemic.” DailyMail.co.uk. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...tates.html


Roos, Robert. (2014). “CDC's flu warning raises questions about vaccine match.” Center For Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Retrieved from http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspecti...cine-match


Shoko Nishiyama, Bernadette M. Dutia, James P. Stewart, Anna L. Meredith, Darren J. Shaw, Peter Simmonds, and Colin P. Sharp. (2014). “Identification of novel anelloviruses with broad diversity in UK rodents.” Journal of General Virology. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4059270/