Five challenges in the field of viral diversity and evolution

Sanjuán, R., Illingworth, C. J.R. , Geoghegan, J. L., Iranzo, J., Zwart, M. P., Ciota, A. T., Moratorio, G., Gago-Zachert, S., Duffy, S. and Vijaykrishna, D. (2021) Five challenges in the field of viral diversity and evolution. Frontiers in Virology, 1, 684949. (doi: 10.3389/fviro.2021.684949)

Abstract

Viral diversity and evolution play a central role in processes such as disease emergence, vaccine failure, drug resistance, and virulence. However, significant challenges remain to better understand and manage these processes. Here, we discuss five of these challenges. These include improving our ability to predict viral evolution, developing more relevant experimental evolutionary systems, integrating viral dynamics and evolution at different scales, systematic appraisal of the virosphere, and deepening our understanding of virus-virus interactions. Intensifying future research on these areas should improve our ability to combat viral diseases, as well as to exploit viral diversity and evolution for biotechnological purposes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was funded by the European Research Council (CoG 724519 Vis-a-Vis), the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (BFU2017-84762-R, RYC-2017-22524, PID2019-106618GA-I00, and SEV-2016-0672), the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00002/11), the New Zealand Royal Society Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (RDF-20-UOO-007), the US National Institutes of Health (R21AI13168302 and R21AI14685602), the Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación de Uruguay (FCE120191156157 and FCE120191155930), DARPA PREEMPT (#HR001118S0017-PREEMPT-FP001), the G4 Research Program from the Institut Pasteur of Montevideo, and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CEIRS contract 546HHSN272201400006C).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Illingworth, Dr Chris
• Authors: Sanjuán, R., Illingworth, C. J.R., Geoghegan, J. L., Iranzo, J., Zwart, M. P., Ciota, A. T., Moratorio, G., Gago-Zachert, S., Duffy, S., and Vijaykrishna, D.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: Frontiers in Virology
• Publisher: Frontiers Media
• ISSN: 2673-818X
• ISSN (Online): 2673-818X
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Frontiers Virology 1:684949
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License