Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, and Foundation for Vaccine Research, Washington, D.C.
mBio. 2014 Oct 14;5(5):e01882-14. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01882-14.
Inappropriately named gain-of-function influenza research seeks to confer airborne transmission on avian influenza A viruses that otherwise cause only dead-end infections in humans. A recent study has succeeded in doing this with a highly pathogenic ostrich H7N1 virus in a ferret model without loss of virulence. If transposable to humans, this would constitute a novel virus with a case fatality rate ~30 greater than that of Spanish flu. A commentary from three distinguished virologists considered the benefits of this work to outweigh potential risks. I beg to disagree with conclusions in both papers, for the underlying science is not as strong as it appears.
名称不当的功能获得性流感研究旨在使原本只能在人类中引起局限性感染的禽流感 A 病毒获得空气传播能力。最近的一项研究在雪貂模型中成功地对高致病性鸵鸟 H7N1 病毒进行了这项操作，而没有降低其毒力。如果可转移到人类身上，这将构成一种新型病毒，其病死率将比西班牙流感高出约 30%。三位杰出病毒学家的一篇评论认为，这项工作的好处超过了潜在风险。我不同意这两篇论文的结论，因为基础科学并没有表面上那么强大。
