Scientists to explore West Nile virus carrier genome with IBM Power Systems

A team of researchers from The Center for Genome Architecture (TC4GA) are planning to use technology from IBM to study the mosquito genome, which carries the West Nile fever pathogen. According to experts, this step will help scientists more effectively deal with the disease. Perhaps reading the genome will provide insight into the carrier DNA vulnerabilities that the virus uses for propagation.

The high-performance VOLTRON system, which is based on the IBM Power Systems platform, provides researchers with a range of capabilities and tools to work effectively on this issue. Now many universities and research organizations are using supercomputers, cloud services and other modern technologies that give scientists unique opportunities. As for VOLTRON, after deciphering the mosquito genome, scientists plan to build a visual model of the DNA of this insect.

By the way, since the implementation of the Human Genome Project, the procedure for decoding the genome has become much less expensive. If the cost of the project was $ 4 billion, now a similar task can be completed for only $ 10,000. Moreover, besides the usual data, scientists also have at their disposal a visual model of the decoded DNA, which helps in some cases to study some features of the “owner” of this genome.
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According to experts participating in the project, they will use a new technique that can drastically change the approach to deciphering the DNA of living beings. So far, the details have not been disclosed, but scientists say that this procedure can be carried out much faster and at lower cost than before. It is clear that it is possible to work not only with the mosquito DNA, but also of any other living creatures. But so far, the main task is the fight against the causative agent of West Nile fever, which harms the health of many people in various regions of the globe.



“The IBM 3D-assembly method and technology is a powerful combination: in the first case, an extremely high performance computer system is required, in the second case, it is provided,” said Eres Liberman Aiden, head of the organization that deals with the mosquito problem.

Interestingly, West Nile fever itself is not a well-studied disease. Previously, it was distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. But after the start of mass tourism, the disease spread throughout the globe. Birds are prone to it in the first place, but many mammals, including humans, suffer from fever.

The causative agent of fever was first detected in the blood of a sick woman in 1937, in Uganda. Now the virus is most common in the Mediterranean countries, including Israel and Egypt, it also causes significant damage to the health of the people of India and Indonesia. In addition, patients with fever have already been found in the United States and Russia. Moreover, in the south of Russia, the virus is the most viable. In 1999, the first cases of the disease were observed in the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions, as well as in the Krasnodar Territory. According to modern data provided by US scientists, about 80% of cases of infection are asymptomatic. Fever is dangerous both with an acute course of the disease with fever and serious consequences, such as serous meningitis syndrome (about 50% of cases).

A vaccine against West Nile fever has not yet been developed.