Chinese scientists create mutant Ebola virus to skirt around biosafety rules - ... trends now
Chinese scientists have engineered a virus with parts of Ebola in a lab that killed a group of hamsters.
A team of researchers at Hebei Medical University used a contagious disease of livestock and added a protein found in Ebola, which allows the virus to infect cells and spread throughout the human body.
The group of hamsters that received the lethal injection 'developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human Ebola patients,' including multi-organ failure,' the study shared.
One particularly horrific symptom saw the infected hamsters develop secretions in their eyes, which impaired their vision and scabbed over the surface of the eyeballs
While the experiment may spark fears of another lab leak, the researchers say their goal was to find the right animal models that can safely mimic Ebola symptoms in a lab setting.
Chinese scientists have engineered virus to contain parts of Ebola (pictured) in a lab that killed a group of hamsters in just three days
A team of researchers at Hebei Medical University used a contagious disease of livestock and added a protein found in Ebola that allows it to infect cells and spread throughout the human body (stock)
The study suggested that infected hamsters could be a decent model for studying the spread and treatment of Ebola in the future.
Ebola needs to be handled in Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facilities which are special high security laboratories, while many are only BLS-2.
To work around this in a lower security setting, scientists used a different virus called vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which they engineered to carry part of the Ebola virus that's called glycoprotein (GP) that plays a crucial role in helping the virus enter and infect cells of its host.
The infected hamsters developed secretions in their eyes, which impaired their vision and covered the surface of the eyeballs
The team studied five female and five male hamsters that were all three weeks old.
All female Syrian hamsters showed decreased rectal temperature and up to 18 percent weight loss - they all died between two and three
