Researchers identify two critical mutations that allow MERS virus to transmit from bats to humans

Researchers have identified two critical mutations allowing the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus to transmit from bats to humans. The findings were published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Virology. Leading the research was Fang Li, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Graduate students Yang Yang and Chang Liu from Professor Fang Li’s lab participated in the research. The study was conducted in collaboration with Shibo Jiang, M.D. , Ph.D., and Lanying Du, Ph.D., from the New York Blood Center, Zhengli Shi, Ph.D., from Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ralph Baric, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina. MERS is in the same virus family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) responsible for a global epidemic in 2003. MERS was first diagnosed in 2012, and has since infected over 1100 people. The illness is deadly in about 40 percent of people...