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Biomedical subjects

Manfred Eigen

Publications and source records attributed to Manfred Eigen.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

The error threshold.

Basic principles underlying the population dynamics of bacteria and viruses are presented, with emphasis on RNA viruses. Concepts reviewed here include fitness, mutant generation, competition, selection, sequence space and the theoretical origins of quasispecies. A "wild-type" virus is no longer viewed as the fittest type, but as the center of gravity of a population landscape. A consequence of quasispecies is the existence of an error threshold for selective competence. The error threshold has a justification in quasispecies theory and lends itself to exploration of strategies to drive viral populations over the error threshold, the central theme of this volume.

Antiviral Agents↗
PubMed2002

Transferability of HIV by arthropods supports the hypothesis about transmission of the virus from apes to man.

The primate Pan troglodytes troglodytes, a chimpanzee subspecies, has recently been defined as a natural animal host of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Apes are traditionally hunted in Africa and are offered for sale in open-air meat markets. The bloody carcasses are regularly covered with blood-feeding flies, amongst them possibly the stable fly (Stomoxvs calcitrans L.). a cosmopolitically occurring biting fly. This fly is the effective vector for the retrovirus causing equine infectious anemia [corrected]. According to laboratory experiments, the infectivity of ingested HIV is not reduced in the regurgitates of this fly. These findings are combined to explain the mechanism for a possible primary transmission of HIV from ape to man.

Animals↗