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| MSU prof advances on Marek’s virus research |
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By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Jerry Dodgson’s work of gene mapping might seem fairly obscure, but it could have practical implications for chicken and, someday, turkey producers.
Dodgson, a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University, is one of the lead researchers into the search for better vaccines to fight Marek’s disease virus (MDV), a contagious, cancer-causing viral disease that is estimated to cost the poultry industry $1 billion a year worldwide. MDV afflicts chickens.
“There are more doses of Marek’s disease vaccine made than any other vaccine, either human or animal,” Dodgson said. “It’s a pretty big market, therefore fairly important.”
Vaccines for Marek’s disease were developed in the 1960s, but chickens, like other animals, can develop resistance to vaccines.
“The virus is evolving and can eventually evolve to become resistant to a vaccine,” he said. “For Marek’s disease, there is a viable vaccine, but we’re afraid that the present vaccine will lose its potency. We’re trying to improve on the current vaccine.”
Through this research, a new vaccine was developed by cloning one of the identified genes, called chicken MIP-1, into the vaccine strain of the virus. The protection this vaccine offers is comparable to that provided by the best commercially available vaccines.
But Dodgson says this isn’t good enough, because the current vaccines are not preventing the spread of MDV. Dodgson’s approach has been to incorporate new genes into the pathogenic virus. Other researchers take one or more genes out of the pathogenic virus. He hopes his approach will take the search for a better vaccine a major step forward.
“It’s still fairly early in the vaccine stage,” he said.
Dodgson has moved on to turkey gene mapping, but the University of Delaware is continuing work on new vaccines for MDV. The backdrop for this research is the completion of the chicken genome sequence. A “first draft” of the chicken genome was placed into free public databases for use by researchers around the world in March, 2004.
The completed genome has become a catalyst for a great deal of research. The individual chicken to have its genome sequenced lived in Dodgson’s lab, and became a minor celebrity for its contribution to science.
In February 2007, Dodgson compared the significance of the chicken genome map to a social scientist wanting to study a major city using a telephone directory. While the telephone book doesn’t give answers on its own to scientific problems, “it does give you a summary of who’s there and how to reach them.”
One of the practical benefits of the chicken genome sequence is the help it’s giving Dodgson and other scientists in understanding the relationship between certain genes that are affected by the MDV infection and the virus.
The gene mapping project was conducted by more than 175 scientists from several countries. The research into a better MDV vaccine was conducted by researchers from Texas A&M University as well as from MSU, the University of Delaware and the USDA. |
| 3/26/2008 |
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