This Discover magazine blog post explains why humans (and other vertebrates) are not affected the same way by the same virus. I have often wondered why some people would get very sick from a virus that hardly affects someone else. My dad would often say 'because we're from hearty stock', but I didn't really believe it. This article explains it much better!
What this study found was that viruses tend to evolve so that they target mice with specific sets of MHC proteins. Once a virus had evolved to wreak havoc in mice with one set of MHC proteins—possibly by changing its own molecules just enough to avoid notice by those particular proteins, or some other work-around—it had a really hard time infecting mice with a different set of proteins, which, of course, could still sniff it out just fine.
Have you experienced this? What does this reinforce about what you learned earlier this year about viruses and how they infect cells? How can scientists use this to improve medicines?
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