{"id":119324,"date":"2018-10-12T09:17:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T13:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=119324"},"modified":"2018-10-15T13:54:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T17:54:18","slug":"in-state-of-the-art-labs-bates-alumni-work-toward-ebola-treatments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2018\/10\/12\/in-state-of-the-art-labs-bates-alumni-work-toward-ebola-treatments\/","title":{"rendered":"In state-of-the-art labs, Bates alumni work toward Ebola treatments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Until recently, if he wanted to study active Ebola virus, research scientist Adam Hume \u201903 had to travel thousands of miles to a lab with a Biosafety Level 4 designation.<\/p>\n<p>Ebola is infamously contagious and deadly, and there\u2019s no cure. Only a dozen or so labs in the country have gained approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to house the virus for research.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, the lab where Hume works, the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University, got such a designation. On his home turf \u2014 and wearing a bulky positive pressure suit \u2014 Hume can now do the work that might one day lead to an effective Ebola treatment.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em style=\"color: #009779;\">In Sierra Leone in 2015, Adam Hume \u201903 tests blood samples for Ebola using a \u201cglovebox.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"GloveBoxSingleSampleSideAngle10x\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/294776488?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Hume\u2019s specialty is filoviruses, which include Ebola virus and the related Marburg virus. He primarily studies how Marburg infects Egyptian fruit bats, a species researchers suspect is a \u201creservoir\u201d where the virus is naturally found. He also studies other aspects of Ebola virus replication.<\/p>\n<p>In bats infected with Marburg, the virus replicates to lower concentrations than what is found in infected humans, meaning the viruses don\u2019t kill or sicken the bats. Once the bats fight off the infection, they\u2019re immune. Understanding why that is could lead to duplicating bats\u2019 response in humans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFiguring out how these bats are able to limit the infection might be the key to potential therapies down the line,\u201d Hume says.<\/p>\n<p>For Hume, studying filoviruses follows years of narrowing down his interests. As a biochemistry major at Bates, he initially cast a wide net, writing a senior thesis on the effects of a toxin in chickens but also taking courses in immunology and virology. Those courses bolstered Hume\u2019s interest in infectious diseases, which he made his focus in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_119325\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/17-1966-NEIDL-022.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-119325\" class=\"wp-image-119325 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/17-1966-NEIDL-022-900x586.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/17-1966-NEIDL-022-900x586.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/17-1966-NEIDL-022-400x261.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/17-1966-NEIDL-022-200x130.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/17-1966-NEIDL-022.jpg 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-119325\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam Hume poses with Elke M\u00fchlberger, center, and Judith Olejnik after their lab, the NEIDL, received permission to conduct research at Biosafety Level 4. (Cydney Scott\/Boston University)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Jackson Emanuel \u201915 also discovered an interest in infectious diseases at Bates, studying the bacteria that cause Lyme disease in particular. Following a year as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Poland, he joined Rocky Mountain Laboratories, which also operates a BSL4 lab.<\/p>\n<p>Emanuel participated in an effort to develop a possible vaccines for Ebola and later used elements of that vaccine to help develop a vaccine for the Zika virus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like that infectious diseases combine many disciplines,\u201d says Emanuel, now a doctoral student at the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin. \u201cIn order to study a disease well, you need to study it from many different angles.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_94164\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/05\/web-150416_Fulbright_Jackson_Emanuel_0018.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-94164\" class=\"wp-image-94164 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/05\/web-150416_Fulbright_Jackson_Emanuel_0018-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/05\/web-150416_Fulbright_Jackson_Emanuel_0018-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/05\/web-150416_Fulbright_Jackson_Emanuel_0018-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/05\/web-150416_Fulbright_Jackson_Emanuel_0018-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/05\/web-150416_Fulbright_Jackson_Emanuel_0018.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-94164\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jackson Emanuel \u201915 (Josh Kuckens\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>At Wisconsin, Hume became particularly interested in zoonotic diseases, which, like Ebola, originate in other animals but can infect humans.<\/p>\n<p>Studying zoonotic diseases \u2014 and ways to prevent the jump from animals to humans \u2014 was rewarding both from a professional and an ethical point of view, Hume says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith habitat loss and deforestation in a lot of poorer countries, we\u2019re seeing more of these zoonotic events,\u201d Hume says. \u201cIt was something that was very interesting to me and something that seemed like it\u2019s only going to become more of a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hume focused on filoviruses at BU, working under leading filovirus researcher Elke M\u00fchlberger. He got to work studying the way the viruses work in bats \u2014 but it would be years before the NEIDL, his base, would get the approval to study active, infectious viruses.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, he worked in NEIDL\u2019s Biosafety Level 2 labs, which handle less-dangerous diseases and require far less stringent safety measures. Hume analyzed filovirus \u201cminigenomes,\u201d small pieces of RNA which contain the end portions of filoviruses\u2019 genetic sequences but which have had the genetic sequences that make them infectious removed. Minigenomes are safe to work with at the lower safety level, but researchers can still use them to develop antiviral medicines.<\/p>\n<p>When working with active Ebola and Marburg virus was absolutely necessary, Hume would spend weeks at a time at a Biosafety Level 4 lab in San Antonio, doing experiments for his own research and for his colleagues\u2019.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cFiguring out how these bats are able to limit the infection might be the key to potential therapies down the line.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The training for and experience with BSL4 lab work proved useful during the Ebola outbreak that swept several West African countries from 2014 to 2016. Hume was part of a team that traveled to Sierra Leone\u2019s Kono district in 2015 \u2014 they knew the safety measures necessarily to work with Ebola, so they could help diagnose the virus.<\/p>\n<p>Hume spent six weeks analyzing blood samples and mouth swabs that came to him from around the district, using a mobile lab. \u201cIt was definitely rewarding in that it was a step closer to directly helping people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Back at home, NEIDL continued to work for approval to operate at Biosafety Level 4. With concerns about safety within Boston\u2019s South End neighborhood resolved, the approval finally came in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>In August, samples of the virus arrived. \u201cDressed in spacesuit-like protective garb in her laboratory,\u201d <em>The Boston Globe<\/em> wrote at the time, M\u00fchlberger, Hume\u2019s boss, \u201cdug through several layers of packing materials and dry ice until she found a small, shatterproof plastic box, in which several tiny tubes nestled among paper towels.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_119336\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/MayTeam.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-119336\" class=\"wp-image-119336 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/MayTeam-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/MayTeam-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/MayTeam-200x150.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/10\/MayTeam.jpg 745w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-119336\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam Hume \u201903 poses with a team that traveled to Sierra Leone in 2015 to help test blood samples for Ebola. (Courtesy of Adam Hume)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The lab is equipped with multiple redundant safety measures \u2014 the walls are 12 inches thick, the air system creates negative pressure, scientists wear protective suits connected to air hoses, and sharp objects that could puncture the suits are kept to a minimum. And the lab is staffed with people who, like Hume, are extensively trained and experienced.<\/p>\n<p>Virus now on (gloved) hand, \u201ceverything takes twice as long to do,\u201d Hume says. \u201cYou have to slow down and be more deliberate when you work in the lab. You have to think through every step of the procedure and make sure the way you\u2019re doing it is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the moment, Hume says, the lab is working on growing the stocks of the virus it received in August. A priority is to study Ebola in liver cells. In and out of the BSL4 lab, the lab is also investigating a newly discovered filovirus, Lloviu virus.<\/p>\n<p>And Hume is \u2014 safely \u2014 on the front lines of research that could lead to a better understanding, and treatment, of a deadly virus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find it very rewarding from a moral point of view and also intellectually rewarding,\u201d Hume says. \u201cThere are a lot of new things that are undiscovered, waiting to be studied.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Bates alumni try to understand how Ebola and its relatives infect cells \u2014 and what we can do to stop it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":119410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,7,217],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-alumni","category-science-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119324"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119491,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119324\/revisions\/119491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}