EcoHealth, Argentina, Andes Virus, and Reverse Genetics

🧵Let's go ahead and drive the stake through the heart of this vampire that never goes away...

EcoHealth Alliance and the notorious Wuhan Institute of Virology ecosystem in Argentina...

(links at the end) https://t.co/cjCUlHhkjJ https://t.co/mXWY07E6SH

1/ EcoHealth Alliance has strong Argentina fieldwork on hantavirus ecology/rodents (CONICET partners, reservoir studies), but their "forced mutation" spotlight is on coronaviruses (e.g., chimeric spike work with Wuhan).

No major public hantavirus GoF/serial passage projects tied directly to them in Argentina.

Their One Health surveillance helps track natural strains like Andes virus.

2/ Serial passage experiments (a form of forced adaptation) on Andes virus (Argentina/Chile endemic) exist in labs.

One 2025 study passaged a human-derived Andes strain 25x in Syrian hamsters: very stable genome, only 1 coding mutation, no big virulence jump.

Shows limited selective pressure in some models. UNM-linked researchers involved in similar pathogenesis work.

3/ Reverse genetics & mutants:

Efforts to build systems for hantaviruses (including New World like Andes/Sin Nombre) date back years.

UNM has deep expertise; grants aimed at cloning genomes to test specific mutations/pathogenicity.

AECOM (Kartik Chandran lab) did glycoprotein… https://t.co/3JMjBoYivF

4/ Argentina-US scientist ties:

Argentine outbreaks (e.g., Epuyén) provide strains for comparative US studies.

UNM/Colorado experts analyze Andes variants; co-authorships on genomics/transmission.

Local focus: surveillance/outbreak response (ANLIS Malbrán, CONICET).
Mobility: Argentines train at US spots like AECOM.

5/ Chimerics & broader work:

Common in hantavirus research — e.g., VLPs with inserted segments for vaccines/antibodies, or rVSV bearing hantavirus glycoproteins.

These involve engineered elements but aim at understanding entry/immunity. Limited direct Argentina crossover beyond…

6/ Bottom line: Public research shows standard lab adaptation (serial passage with minimal changes for Andes), reverse genetics development, and mutant tools — mostly US-based for basic science/vaccine potential.

Argentina connections strongest in ecology, strain sequencing, and co-authorships, not dedicated forced-mutation facilities.

These efforts help explain rare human-to-human Andes transmission without evidence of reckless engineering in the records.

Always evolving field — biosafety & oversight key!

Questions on specifics? Fire away. #VirologyFacts

7/ Citations:

EcoHealth Alliance & Argentina Fieldwork/CONICET Ties
🔘https://t.co/T4hCSY8gzL (Long-term hantavirus reservoir study, Argentina — EcoHealth journal)
🔘https://t.co/BB7fRCn2Hv (HPS outbreak anticipation via rodent surveillance, Argentina/CONICET)
🔘https://t.co/9tQjNeEaqt (Akodon-borne orthohantavirus in Argentina)

Serial Passage / Forced Adaptation (Andes Virus)
🔘https://t.co/AyRmUDWsjd (High genomic stability of Andes virus after 25 serial passages in Syrian hamsters, 2025)
🔘https://t.co/HFOVlFwylr (Same study, PubMed)
🔘https://t.co/62JRWSrJ5K (Full details)

Reverse Genetics, Mutants & Glycoprotein Work (AECOM/Kartik Chandran Lab)
🔘https://t.co/PhTdZ1fgGi (Two point mutations in Old World hantavirus glycoproteins for rVSV vectors)
🔘https://t.co/G4STJB9LWy (Same, PubMed)
🔘https://t.co/gcr0qZnv1x (Minigenome system for Andes virus — reverse genetics example)

UNM & Comparative Andes/South American Research
🔘https://t.co/PFanmE9GDR (UNM hantavirus ecology)
🔘https://t.co/nm6LlVy5sw (UNM hantavirus overview, Chile/Panama ties)
🔘https://t.co/gNeGBfNMuD (Human-to-human Andes transmission modeled in hamsters)

Broader Argentina Outbreaks & Early Work
🔘https://t.co/1iDJaWFrVy (1995 Andes virus identification in Argentina)
🔘https://t.co/SLBL0z8SpM (Andes minigenome/reverse genetics challenges)

These link directly to papers, institutional pages, and reports underpinning the neutral summaries.

For full PDFs or deeper dives, search PubMed/Google Scholar with the DOIs/titles.

@threadreaderapp unroll please