Polio Virus Made "From Scratch"
The virus is one of the simplest organisms on
earth; so much so that some scientists argue it is not a living being
at all. The poliovirus, for example, is just a piece of DNA
inside a protein shell. Simple, yes, but could it be
manufactured in a lab? In 2002, a team of scientists at
Stony Brook University's Department of Molecular Genetics
and Microbiology did just that.
Like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, Drs. Eckard Wimmer, Anika Paul and Jeronimo Cello used commercially available DNA fragments and the already-published DNA sequence for polio to create a working replica of the “wild-type” virus. With the current state of the world, many officials and scientists worldwide are considering the implications of the discovery as related to bio-terrorism. According to scientists on the project, polio, one of the most basic viral agents, was easy to make, but smallpox a much more dangerous and complex virus would be extremely difficult to manufacture. Still warns Wimmer, "The world had better be prepared." The project was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.