Rapid viral quasispecies evolution: implications for vaccine and drug strategies.
I S Novella, E Domingo, J J Holland
Author Information
I S Novella: Department of Biology and Institute for Molecular Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0016, USA. isabel@jeeves.ucsd.edu
High mutation rates occurring during replication allow RNA viruses to evolve rapidly and adapt continuously to new environments. This poses an enormous challenge to vaccine and drug development which, to be effective, must consider RNA virus variability and follow approaches that minimize the probability of escape or resistant mutants arising.
