Caption: Viewed from above, a cluster of influenza A virus particles in cross section, reveal the distinct pattern of genetic element organization that occurs as the viruses prepare to bud and leave the cell to go on to infect other cells. Scientists have long debated whether flu viruses organize their genetic contents in a random or systematic way. UW-Madison researchers, led by virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, have found that influenza A viruses always organize the RNA fragments that make up the genetic contents of the virus in a circle of seven surrounding an eighth fragment. The finding suggests a common genetic component that could be a target for new antiviral drugs.
Photo: courtesy Yoshihiro Kawaoka
Date: 2006
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Caption: Viewed as a cross section, a nascent influenza A virus, the same family of flu viruses that includes avian forms of influenza, reveal how the virus organizes its genetic material as it prepares to bud from a cell to infect other cells. The RNA fragments that make up the viral genome always organize in a circle of seven around another genetic element. Knowing that flu viruses organize their genetic contents in a specified way, a finding made by UW-Madison influenza researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka, may help scientists find new antiviral compounds and harness the flu virus to speed and optimize vaccine production.
Photo: courtesy Yoshihiro Kawaoka
Date: 2006
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Caption: Yoshihiro Kawaoka (right) and lab technician Barry McClernon oversee an experiment in Kawaoka's laboratory at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. Kawaoka, a professor in the department of pathobiological sciences, is an international authority on influenza. Research in his lab has helped detail why some viruses are more pathogenic than others, and how vaccine production might be improved.
Photo by: Michael Forster Rothbart
Date: October 2005
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Caption: Yoshihiro Kawaoka, professor of pathobiological sciences and a virologist, is an expert on the influenza virus.
Photo by: Michael Forster Rothbart
Date: October 2005
High-resolution 300 DPI JPEG