Herpesviruses and their genetic diversity in the blood virome of healthy individuals: effect of aging.

Background: As we age, the functioning of the human immune system declines. The results of this are increases in morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disease in elderly individuals, as well as a weakened vaccination response. The aging of the immune system is thought to affect and be affected by the human virome, the collection of all viruses present in an individual.

Genetic Adaptation of Coxsackievirus B1 during Persistent Infection in Pancreatic Cells.

Coxsackie B (CVB) viruses have been associated with type 1 diabetes. We have recently observed that CVB1 was linked to the initiation of the autoimmune process leading to type 1 diabetes in Finnish children. Viral persistency in the pancreas is currently considered as one possible mechanism.

Bioinformatics Assembling and Assessment of Novel Coxsackievirus B1 Genome.

The human microbiome project via application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing techniques has found surprising large and diverse amounts of microbial sequences across different body sites. There is a wave of investigators studying autoimmune related diseases designing from birth case and control studies to elucidate microbial associations and potential direct triggers. Sequencing analysis, considered big data as it typically includes millions of reads, is challenging but particularly demanding and complex is virome profiling due to its lack of pan-viral genomic signature.