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Antigenic shift is a specific case of reassortment or viral shift that confers a phenotypic change. Antigenic shift is contrasted with antigenic drift , which is the natural mutation over time of known strains of influenza (or other things, in a more general sense) which may lead to a loss of immunity, or in vaccine mismatch.
All viruses exhibit genetic drift over time but the amount that they are able to drift without incurring a negative impact on their fitness varies between families. Antigenic shift: reassortment of the viral genome that occurs when a single host cell is co-infected with two unique virus particles.
Virotherapy is a treatment using biotechnology to convert viruses into therapeutic agents by reprogramming viruses to treat diseases. There are three main branches of virotherapy: anti-cancer oncolytic viruses, viral vectors for gene therapy and viral immunotherapy.
In the 1957 "Asian flu" and 1968 "Hong Kong flu" pandemics, flu strains were caused by reassortment between an avian virus and a human virus. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] In addition, the H1N1 virus responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic has an unusual mix of swine, avian and human influenza genetic sequences.
A few similar medications followed over the next few years, but the fast-mutating virus found ways around them. Early treatments also required multiple daily pills and often caused harsh side effects.
An example of an acute transforming virus is the Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) that carry the v-src oncogene. v-Src is part of the c-src, which is a cellular proto-oncogene that stimulates rapid cell growth and expansion. A non-acute transforming virus on the other hand induces a slow tumor growth, since it does not carry any viral oncogenes.
A genetically modified virus is a virus that has been altered or generated using biotechnology methods, and remains capable of infection. Genetic modification involves the directed insertion , deletion , artificial synthesis or change of nucleotide bases in viral genomes.
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