University of Minnesota researchers are studying samples from zoo animals in search of the next disease-fighting therapy, working with the University of Minnesota Institute on Infectious Diseases to trace how different species' immune systems handle viral threats.
The work is backed by a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Medical School professor Ryan Langlois is leading the project, which is collecting living cells from more than 100 animal species through partnerships with the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Como Zoo Conservatory and the San Diego Zoo. 'This new grant will allow us to utilize this "cellular zoo" to determine how diverse animals recognize and fight virus infections,' Langlois said.
The team is focusing on arboviruses — pathogens like West Nile virus that spread through mosquitoes and ticks and can jump from animals into people. By comparing how wildly different species' innate immune systems respond to the same virus, researchers hope to pinpoint natural defenses that could eventually be turned into human therapies, and to better understand how and why some viruses spill over from animal hosts into humans in the first place.
The project sits inside the University of Minnesota Institute on Infectious Diseases, launched to identify and respond to emerging outbreaks and to train the next generation of pandemic and epidemic response experts. The institute, chaired by Michael Gale Jr., already runs a statewide wastewater surveillance dashboard tracking pathogens at 38 Minnesota treatment plants and has ramped up monitoring for changes in the H5N1 bird flu strain — part of a broader push to catch the next zoonotic threat before it becomes the next pandemic.