04/07/2003

DeRisi in the Spotlight

QB3 investigator Joe DeRisi is enjoying wide attention for identifying a virus that may be responsible for causing SARS, the acute respiratory illness that has infected thousands and killed over 100 across the globe.

DeRisi and his postdoctoral student David Wang spent two years developing the virus chip, which uses 12,000 oligonucleotide sequences to detect all known and unknown viruses. Most of the work, though, is done on the bioinformatics side. The powerful software and database applications developed by DeRisi and Wang interpret the reactions that occur on the chip, and establish the relationship of the new virus to known viruses.

The virus chip is being used in a collaborative project with Don Ganem, UCSF professor of microbiology and immunology, and Homer Boushey, M.D., UCSF professor of allergy & pulmonary medicine and chief at the UCSF Asthma Clinical Research Center. They used the virus chip to screen for cold viruses that may cause or exacerbate respiratory illnesses, including asthma. The scientists reported a prototype of the technology and its success in detecting viruses in the November Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Then in March as the new mystery illness spread around the world, DeRisi saw the perfect opportunity to prove that his method can quickly and cheaply identify unknown viruses. He requested samples of nucleic acid from tissue culture from the Centers for Disease Control, and within the day had determined that it was a virus never before detected in humans. "We had the perfect tool at the perfect time," said DeRisi. "This is exactly the application the chip is designed for."

Each virus chip costs about $1.00, said DeRisi, making it a cost-effective tool in research or clinical settings for discovering new viruses. DeRisi has now begun work with Ganem and Jorge Oksenberg, PhD, UCSF assistant professor of neurology, to examine multiple sclerosis, a severe neurological disease, in which a viral component is believed to cause or exacerbate flare-ups of the disease in some cases.

"We're proud to have Dr. DeRisi as a part of QB3. His work is an example of a great idea meeting a real-world application," said Marvin Cassman, Executive Director of QB3. "It also represents the power of the kind of multi-disciplinary research that we're trying to foster," Cassman added.

DeRisi, PhD, UCSF assistant professor of biochemistry & biophysics, Tomkins Chair, will also be using his expertise to conduct a week-long QB3 summer course in microarray technology. Details of the microarray course are posted at http://derisilab.ucsf.edu/QB3/. The application deadline for that course has been extended to June 15, 2003.