Portland State Magazine Spring 2014

20 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SPRING 2014 VIRUSES GET A BAD RAP. Yes, they give us colds and the flu, they infect our bodies and in many parts of the world, they can kill. They spread like crazy, which is how malicious computer bugs got their name. But viruses also play positive roles in nature. They kill bacteria, for one, and they form the basis of many life-saving vaccines. So while it’s sometimes good to kill viruses, at other times it’s better to save them. Biology professor Ken Stedman and graduate student James Laidler have found a way to save them. They found that coating viruses in a silicate shell can keep them in a state of suspended animation. The shell dissolves and the virus becomes active again when exposed to water. Stedman nicknamed the process “zombification” because the “undead” viruses come back to life once the coating has been removed. The discovery is important because the technique could extend the shelf life of vaccines and allow for storage at room temperatures. Vaccines preserved in this way could be given orally or injected into a patient, and the glassy coating would harmlessly melt away. This could alleviate a longstanding problem with vaccines: They are often extremely fragile and will spoil quickly if they’re not stored at a cold temperature. Nearly half of vaccines produced every year spoil due to inadequate refrigeration during transport. “It’s really hard to put a fridge on the back of a donkey,” says Stedman. “This process has the potential to stabilize vaccines so that they can get to more places and more people more often. Six million people per year—mostly children—die from diseases that could be helped with vaccination.” The process could save the pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines about $2.3 billion per year by cutting product losses, Stedman adds. It would also reduce the cost of shipping and encourage the development of new markets. STEDMAN AND LAIDLER discovered zombie viruses while taking samples from bubbling hot springs in the American West. They found that silica from the hot springs protected the viruses from drying out and allowed them to stay viable outside their natural environment. Back in the lab, they were able to replicate the coating process. The work involves placing a liquid solution contain- ing viruses into a membrane bag, and putting the bag into a prepared solution of sodium metasilicate, also known as water glass. The membrane’s microscopic pores are large enough to let the water glass pass through, but small enough to keep the viruses contained. After a while, the scientists take out the bag and put it in a fresh solution to do another coating. They do this again and again to slowly build the shell. Taking this initial discovery and turning it into something for widespread use will require five to 10 more years of experiments. Fortunately computational equipment funded by Duane and Barbara McDougall ’75 helps process the massive amount of data required in Stedman’s research. The equipment translates complex substances collected by Stedman and other Portland State scientists into mathematical data that can be analyzed and modeled. While Stedman and Laidler continue their experiments, PSU students in a senior year capstone course are looking into the business possibilities of zombie viruses. “This has amazing and profound potential,” says professor Ted Khoury, who teaches the class. Working with PSU’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Khoury and his WR I T T E N B Y J OHN K I RK LAND Z MBIE VIRUSES Viruses that 'come back to life' could lead to vaccines that last longer, are cheaper and easier to transport, and most importantly—save lives.