Severity Of Ebola Outbreak Caused By Virus Mutating To Better Infiltrate Human Cells
New research finds that the virus evolved during the latest outbreak that killed more than 11,300 people over the past three years.
Los Angeles Times:
New Mutations Helped Ebola Virus Infect More Victims During Latest Outbreak, Studies Say
The Ebola virus that went on a deadly three-year rampage in West Africa before it was smothered earlier this year was on the move in more ways than one. Two new studies show that, in the course of the West African epidemic, the Ebola virus underwent evolutionary changes that made it more deadly and easier to spread from human to human. (Healy, 11/3)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
Every Year Of Smoking Causes DNA Mutations That Make Cancer More Likely
Attention smokers: For every year that you continue your pack-a-day habit, the DNA in every cell in your lungs acquires about 150 new mutations. Some of those mutations may be harmless, but the more there are, the greater the risk that one or more of them will wind up causing cancer. (Kaplan, 11/3)