MCB Lecturer of Immunology, research scientist, and co-PI, P. Robert Beatty, is lead author on a recent paper published in Science Translational Medicine. His research identified novel effects of a key dengue virus protein, nonstructural protein 1 (NS1), that is secreted by infected cells and circulates throughout the bloodstream. Beatty and his co-authors demonstrated that NS1 can directly cause vascular leak potentially leading to the fatal fluid loss and shock associated with severe dengue. Including the NS1 toxin in a vaccine could potentially prevent up to 100 million cases of dengue fever from progressing to the more severe and fatal dengue shock syndrome.

Read Articles: Berkeley News and Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News