Viral infections account for the majority of infectious disease deaths worldwide. Viral vaccines have proved effective in controlling many diseases and have resulted in the global eradication of smallpox. Rinderpest, will shortly be the second infection eradicated by vaccination and this will hopefully be followed by measles and poliovirus. Despite this, there are numerous chronic viral infections - HIV, HCV and HSV as well as acute viral infections - RSV, Rabies, for which vaccines either do not exist or are not widely distributed. Antiviral intervention has resulted in improvement of disease outcome for HIV and HSV, as well as for RSV. The development of effective vaccines and antiviral agents by rational design demands a detailed molecular and biochemical understanding of the replication cycle of the causative agents and how this is linked to pathogenesis of disease. Such an undertaking can only be accomplished through the cooperation of scientists from multiple disciplines working in government, academic and industrial settings. Funds are requested to provide partial support for a new American Society of Microbiology conference on Viral Genome Replication, which will be held from February 6-9, 2011 in Banff, Alberta. This conference will bring together researchers working at the forefront of the mechanism of viral genome replication from all classes of viruses. It has been the tradition in virology to divide and conquer and there is an acute need for a different paradigm: to unify and conquer. The division of virology into DNA vs. RNA, positive-strand RNA vs. negative-strand RNA, herpes vs. pox, picornas vs. hepaci has led to a circumstance in which the lexicon for one virus is virtually unintelligible to an investigator studying another virus. As a result, both intellectual and technical advances made with one virus that could apply to another can go virtually unnoticed. This circumstance is particularly problematic in the field of viral genome replication where, for example, mechanistic insight obtained for a viral replicative DNA polymerase could apply to a viral replicative RNA polymerase but connections are not made because of the historical divide that exists between DNA and RNA virologists. The (re)establishment of a meeting that will bring investigators together based on their common interest in a step of the viral lifecycle rather than the virus type will reinvigorate a field that is key to our ability to treat and prevent and viral infections. We also particularly desire to cross pollinate among researchers working on the strategies of replication at the single molecule, structural, and biochemical level with chemists working on strategies of intervention reflecting the three themes of the meeting: (i) Viral genome replication strategies;(ii) Elements, factors and enzymes: Structure, function and mechanism;(iii) Antivirals: Targets, mechanisms and resistance.
Viral infections account for the majority of morbidity and mortality associated with infectious disease worldwide. Knowledge gained from studies of viral genome replication has already facilitated the development of effective vaccines and antiviral therapies against some of these agents. The ASM sponsored conference entitled """"""""Viral Genome Replication"""""""" is dedicated to exploring the state-of-the-art in this critical field.
The aims of this conference are to bring together researchers from academia, government and industry probing the mechanisms of viral genome replication irrespective of the type of virus and foster an environment in which ideas and information are freely exchanged.
