We're getting so close to our goal!

First, a huge thank you to our backers - we are so grateful to all of you!

While we wait for the campaign to wrap up, we have started the work that we can do even before getting the funds, and wanted to let you know what we've been up to.

This part of the project uses data that is publicly available to design the very best molecular assay possible. Luckily, there is already sequence data available from many Zika virus isolates, from the very first one discovered in 1947 in Uganda to some that were collected just this year in Puerto Rico and Brazil. There is such an interest in Zika, and such a push to uncover as much as we can in a short time, that a lot of new data is being produced and being made available. Scientists are sharing their discoveries, helping the research progress much more rapidly than it might if people weren't working openly. We are so pleased to be a part of this process!

Here's an example of the data we are looking at.

 

Each row represents a small piece of the sequence from one Zika virus. Each color represents a different nucleotide - A, G, C or T.

Where the colors are the same in all the rows, the base is conserved in all the viruses. Look at the last few columns - every row has the same sequence:

yellow yellow red yellow yellow red (or GGAGGA)

Where they are different, like the very first column where some are blue (T) and some are green (C), different viruses have slightly different DNA sequences. This kind of variation is normal, but diagnostic tests based on a sequence with a T in that position may not work on a virus that has a C.

We have found some short fragments of sequence that are the same in all the Zika sequences we have. Since the sequences are the same in all the Zika sequences, they should work on all Zika viruses! Also, since they haven't changed over the 50 years or so since the first Zika virus was collected, we can be fairly confident that it isn't in a part of the genome that evolves quickly. We believe these highly conserved sequences will work for our diagnostic. We are really excited about how things are going (already!!) and can't wait to try these sequences out.

It is great having you all along for the ride, and hope you will follow along with us as the project progresses!