Biothreat Agents

In deployment, the military personnel often encounter infectious disease agents that range from the common (e.g., rhinoviruses) to highly virulent emerging pathogens (e.g., SARS virus, MERS Coronavirus), and potentially even the proven biological warfare agents (e.g., anthrax, plague). Naturally occurring genetic variations and experimentally induced mutations in mammalian genes that confer varying degrees of resistance to infectious diseases are known. However, the military lacks any usable database on such variations. Once available, and combined with tests to identify individuals resistant to one or more of biothreat agents, such a database would greatly facilitate decision making in strategic and tactical deployment of military personnel who exhibit resistance to highly virulent agents. This proposal aims to close the gap.Aims. 1) To search scientific literature and other databases to prepare a comprehensive list of relevant genes and variations in them that confer resistance or susceptibility to biothreat agents. 2) To obtain individual-specific cells to determine the prevalence of such variations. 3) To experimentally assess whether certain variations actually confer resistance. 4) To develop reagents to test for key variations when needed.