Scouting the terrain: How molecular virology shapes the fight against pandemics

One of the first moves a general makes before a battle is to scout the terrain. Without understanding the battlefield, tactics, strategy, and supply lines mean little. Similarly, when doctors, researchers, and epidemiologists face off against a virus, their understanding of the virus’s physical structure is crucial. This molecular terrain dictates how a virus invades bodies, spreads, and how best to counter it with vaccines and treatments. This precise structural knowledge is the expertise of molecular virologist Richard Kuhn, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Science at Purdue University and the Krenicki Family Director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease. Kuhn, in collaboration with viral expert Michael Diamond of Washington University School of Medicine, is at the forefront of the fight against viral pandemics through the new Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP) network, funded by the National Institute...