Variants of viruses, such as that causing COVID-19, can now be quickly studied in the laboratory, even before they emerge in nature and become a major health problem.
New technology has been developed at the University of Queensland and can now enable researchers to manipulate viruses synthetically allowing rapid analysis and mapping of new potential virus variants.
UQ's lead researcher Professor Alexander Khromykh said the technology should give scientists the ability to answer questions about whether potential virus variants are susceptible to a particular drug or vaccine, even before they emerge naturally.