Viral decay acceleration
Encyclopedia
Viral decay acceleration (VDA) is a therapeutic
strategy which increases the mutation frequency
of a virus
toward an error catastrophe
threshold.
Viruses evolve at rates approximately one million times faster than the human genome. The high mutation rate increases diversity within the viral population and facilitates survival in the face of host immune responses, depletion of target cells and antiviral therapeutics. This evolutionary advantage however comes at a considerable cost in that the vast majority of virus particles have mutated beyond a survivability threshold and are therefore non-infectious. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that therapeutics capable of increasing the mutation frequency as little as 2-fold results in collapse of the viral population. These therapeutics, termed VDA agents, accelerate the accumulation of additional mutations in the viral genome, progressively debilitating the virus which causes decay and eventual extinction of the entire viral population.
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
strategy which increases the mutation frequency
Mutation frequency
Mutation frequency refers to the number or "frequency" of cells with a specific mutation in a given population during a point in time. The phrase is often used in relation to drug resistance in bacterial or viral cultures....
of a virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
toward an error catastrophe
Error catastrophe
Error catastrophe is a term used to describe the extinction of an organism as a result of excessive RNA mutations. The term specifically refers to the predictions of mathematical models similar to that described below, and not to an observed phenomenon.Like every organism, viruses 'make mistakes'...
threshold.
Viruses evolve at rates approximately one million times faster than the human genome. The high mutation rate increases diversity within the viral population and facilitates survival in the face of host immune responses, depletion of target cells and antiviral therapeutics. This evolutionary advantage however comes at a considerable cost in that the vast majority of virus particles have mutated beyond a survivability threshold and are therefore non-infectious. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that therapeutics capable of increasing the mutation frequency as little as 2-fold results in collapse of the viral population. These therapeutics, termed VDA agents, accelerate the accumulation of additional mutations in the viral genome, progressively debilitating the virus which causes decay and eventual extinction of the entire viral population.