A Harvard-led team has created the largest-ever viral protein library, called a viral ORFeome, containing ~9,000 proteins from 513 viruses. Published in Cell, the tool lets researchers study thousands of viral proteins at once to uncover how viruses evade the immune system. It could fast-track the development of vaccines and antivirals against both known and emerging pathogens.
A Harvard Medical School team has unveiled the largest viral protein library ever created — a tool called a viral ORFeome — that could fundamentally change how scientists study viruses. Instead of investigating one virus at a time, researchers can now analyze thousands of viral proteins simultaneously, dramatically accelerating discoveries in virology and the race to develop new vaccines and treatments.
Published July 2 in Cell, the ORFeome was designed to be accessible even to biologists without virology training, giving the broader scientific community a powerful new resource. A companion paper in Science (July 9) digs into how viruses hijack cells' waste-disposal systems to dodge immune attacks.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Most human-infecting viruses remain poorly understood. This library gives scientists a biosafe, scalable way to decode viral strategies — including how they evade immunity — potentially unlocking broad-spectrum therapies that work against multiple diseases at once.
