The Ott Lab publishes novel research on SARS-CoV-2 variants Read More

Ott Lab News

Why is Delta so infectious? New lab tool spotlights little noticed mutation that speeds viral spread

As the world has learned to its cost, the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus is more than twice as infectious as previous strains. Just what drives Delta’s ability to spread so rapidly hasn’t been clear, however. Now, a new lab strategy that makes it possible to quickly and safely study the effects of mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants has delivered one answer: a little-noticed mutation in Delta that allows the virus to stuff more of its genetic code into host cells, thus boosting the chances that each infected cell will spread the virus to another cell.

New Method Sheds Light on Why Some SARS-CoV-2 Variants Are More Infectious

In a new paper published today in the journal Science, researchers at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) at UC Berkeley and Gladstone Institutes used a new method to explore why some variants of SARS-CoV-2, like the Delta variant, are more transmissible and infectious than others.

The new study, a collaboration between the labs of Jennifer Doudna at the IGI and Melanie Ott at Gladstone Institutes, uses virus-like particles instead of live virus, a safer and faster way to explore the effect of different mutations in the virus’s genome. Initial explorations with this method found a surprising result: while most research has focused on mutations in the virus’s spike protein that allows the virus to penetrate human cells, mutations in a different protein, the nucleocapsid protein, appear to be more important for enhancing infectivity.

QBI Fireside Chat with Melanie Ott and Mélanie Hamon of Institut Pasteur

The Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at UCSF presents “Scientific Collaborations Across Borders: QBI/Institut Pasteur: Epigenetic Modifications and Human Pathogenic Viruses,” a QBI Fireside Chat on October 20, 2021 at 10AM PT, co-organized by the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy in San Francisco.

This “fireside chat” featured Melanie Ott of Gladstone Institutes/UCSF and Melanie Hamon of Institut Pasteur, and was moderated by Héloïse Pajot of the Embassy of France in San Francisco. The conversation focused on the collaborative research between Institut Pasteur and QBI within the fields of epigenetics and virology, and highlighted the advantages of creating synergy in science across borders during a global pandemic and beyond.

Panelists:

Mélanie Hamon, Principle Investigator, Department of Cell Biology & Infection, Institut Pasteur

Melanie Ott, Principle Investigator, Virology, Gladstone Institutes | School of Medicine, UCSF

Moderator:

Héloïse Pajot, Deputy Attaché for Science and Technology, Embassy of France in the United States

 

To watch: http://https://youtu.be/j2z8oA3HVAs

Ott Lab is part of a Global Collaboration to find a Cure for HIV

Now, with a $26.5-million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a multi-disciplinary group of researchers from institutions around the world is trying a completely new strategy for curing HIV. The group, known as the HIV Obstruction by Programmed Epigenetics (HOPE) Collaboratory, will be led by researchers at Gladstone Institutes, Scripps Research Florida, and Weill Cornell Medicine. Their approach, which aims to both silence and permanently remove HIV from the body, takes advantage of knowledge about how other viruses have become naturally inactivated over time.