{"id":220381,"date":"2025-08-19T04:18:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/recreating-a-rare-mutation-could-grant-almost-universal-virus-immunity-for-days"},"modified":"2025-08-19T04:18:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:18:26","slug":"recreating-a-rare-mutation-could-grant-almost-universal-virus-immunity-for-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/recreating-a-rare-mutation-could-grant-almost-universal-virus-immunity-for-days","title":{"rendered":"Recreating a Rare Mutation Could Grant Almost Universal Virus Immunity For Days"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/recreating-a-rare-mutation-could-grant-almost-universal-virus-immunity-for-days.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A rare genetic mutation appears to make people basically invulnerable to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/virus\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_self\">viruses<\/a> \u2013 and it could potentially be harnessed as a therapy. Researchers have now shown this surprising viral protection can be replicated in mice and hamsters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have yet to find a virus that can break through the therapy\u2019s defenses [in cell culture tests],\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cuimc.columbia.edu\/news\/one-universal-antiviral-rule-them-all\">explains<\/a> Columbia University immunologist Dusan Bogunovic, who first discovered this unusual antiviral superpower <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1224026\">13 years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The mutation, a deficiency in interferon-stimulated gene 15 (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/ISG15\">ISG15<\/a>), causes a mild yet persistent inflammation across the body. Examining patients\u2019 immune cells revealed they\u2019d had the usual run of encounters with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/what-is-influenza\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_self\">flu<\/a>, measles, chickenpox, and mumps, yet they\u2019d never reported feeling particularly ill as a result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rare genetic mutation appears to make people basically invulnerable to viruses \u2013 and it could potentially be harnessed as a therapy. Researchers have now shown this surprising viral protection can be replicated in mice and hamsters. \u201cWe have yet to find a virus that can break through the therapy\u2019s defenses [in cell culture tests],\u201d [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,412],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-genetics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}