VOA科学技术2023--AI Tool Aims to Predict Virus Variants before They Appear

AI Tool Aims to Predict Virus Variants² before They Appear

Scientists have created an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that aims to predict different virus versions, called variants, before they appear.

Creators of the tool say it works by estimating the likelihood that a variant¹ will permit it to escape the body's own immunity³ defenses.

The tool is called EVEscape. It works by processing collected data on the development, or evolution, of a virus over time. The system also considers detailed⁴ biological and structural⁵ information related to the virus.

The method is a form of "generative AI," a term describing technology tools designed to operate at human levels. EVEscape was developed by researchers from Britain's University of Oxford⁷ and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. The team's findings recently appeared in a study in the publication Nature.

Many viruses repeatedly mutate in an effort to stay alive and strong. This requires viruses to infect living organisms. Once inside the body, viruses continue to reproduce and spread.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that repeated mutating creates new variants. Some of these mutations permit the virus "to spread more easily or make it resistant⁸ to treatments or vaccines⁹," the CDC said.

The researchers built on previous work involving a tool they created called EVE. This tool was designed to study gene⁶ mutations that can cause human disease. In a past study, the team said it successfully used EVE to identify mutations linked to conditions like cancer and heart disease.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientists said they recognized a good chance to "rebuild" EVE into a new tool "for the purpose of predicting viral variants."

To do this, the team explained it "turned the clock back to January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic started." The researchers asked the EVEscape tool to predict what mutations would develop from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

The researchers reported the tool correctly predicted which SARS-CoV-2 mutations would appear and which would become most common, or dominant¹⁰.

The team also said the tool predicted which antibody-based treatments "would lose their efficacy as the pandemic progressed and the virus developed mutations to escape these treatments."

The study noted¹¹ EVEscape can make predictions more quickly and effectively than lab-based methods. This is because the tool does not need "to wait for relevant antibodies to arise in the population and become available for testing."

The team said the system was able to examine tens of thousands of new virus variants appearing each week and identified the ones most likely to become problematic.

Sarah Gurev is a student in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technoology (MIT). She was a leader of the research. Gurev said that by quickly identifying the threat level of new variants, "we can help inform earlier public health decisions."

The team said it continuously uses the system to examine real-time data about the development of new variants of SARS-CoV-2. It then shares this information with the public and international agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO).

The researchers said their experiments also showed the EVEscape tool could successfully predict mutating behaviors for other common viruses, including HIV and the flu.

Debora Marks is a professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School's Blavatnik Institute. She was a lead writer of the study. She said the researchers would continue to improve the tool's ability to predict new variants for a number of viruses. "Because if we can, that's going to be extremely important for designing vaccines and therapies."

Words in This Story

immunity – n. bodily power to resist an infectious disease

mutate – v. to cause a gene to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal

efficacy – n. the ability to produce a desired result

relevant – adj. related or useful to what is happening or being talked about

therapy – n. a treatment method for disease

1 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

2 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

3 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

6 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。