The process of identification of mutations that control the ability of viruses to replicate and cause disease and the application of these mutations to viral diagnosis and antiviral therapy

Abstract From the Canadian patent

There is currently little understanding of the genetic basis for virulence or growth control in viruses. The invention provides methods of identifying mutations that control viral virulence and growth as, well as the application of the detection of these mutations to diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This patent identifies a process of selecting viral variants that accumulate biologically relevant, mutations. The process involves the serial culturing of large populations of virus under conditions, of restricted replication in this instance in the lung of mice but can include other types of tissues, that, selects viruses with mutations that both increase replication and virulence. …