A Synthetic System of Molecular Co-evolution

It is difficult to develop vaccines for human parasites such as HIV, influenza and hepatitis C because both the parasites and the immune system of the host evolve quickly. Dr. Dipanwita Biswas seeks to quantify the degree of predictability of this co-evolution by setting up a controlled model system that mimics the evolutionary dynamics between influenza and its host. Her results could help advance the development of vaccine design strategies that take viral mutations into account before they actually occur.