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Protein key to smallpox infection

Respiratory Care Weekly, July 26, 2006

People carrying a protein in their cells called "TATA-binding protein" are more likely to develop smallpox when exposed to the virus, according to research in the July Journal of Virology. Purdue researchers studying smallpox in animals hope this information will help in developing anti-bioterror measures. While the last naturally occurring case of smallpox occurred in Somalia in 1977, experts believe that the disease and related viruses could be used as biological weapons.

"This protein is required for activation of the middle- and late-stage poxvirus genes," said Steven Broyles, a Purdue biochemistry professor. "In the past, we were just groping around. We now have a model for how the poxvirus growth process is orchestrated."

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