Lai is also an expert on the hepatitis D virus, a satellite of hepatitis B virus that can worsen hepatitis infection. Coronaviruses cause respiratory illnesses in humans and animals and may cause neurological symptoms similar to those of multiple sclerosis. Lai’s studies of coronavirus have revealed the details of how the virus enters target cells and how it turns on RNA synthesis in the host cell. But coronavirus seems to have broken all the rules,” he said. “Conventional wisdom would say that having such a large RNA genome wouldn’t work, that the virus would become defective. That’s part of what got Lai interested in studying the coronavirus, which is made up of 31,000 nucleotides and has the longest known viral RNA genome. Because of the way RNA is copied, it is more prone to mistakes in the genetic code and, unlike DNA, the new copy of RNA is never proofread and corrected. He has been especially interested in RNA viruses, which carry their genetic blueprints in what scientists have long considered a relatively flimsy apparatus. Lai has long probed how these tricky parasites work. Once in, viruses commandeer the cell’s nucleic acid and protein-making machinery, so that more copies of the virus can be made. Viruses that cause infection in humans hold a “key” that allows them to unlock normal molecules (called viral receptors) on a human cell surface and slip inside. Many have evolved defenses to help them evade the immune system. Viruses have ways to enter the human body (through the nasal passages, mouth, skin or via injection). Plus, viruses depend on other living things to reproduce. The reason why some high school biology teachers might argue with his stance, Lai notes, is that a virus can be crystallized similar to nonliving matter. They change themselves in order to survive,” said Lai, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Are viruses alive? After more than 25 years of studying the tiny disease-carrying microbes, Michael Lai thinks so.
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