Characterization of the earliest stages of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus and uses thereof

US7320857B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai · CN

Inventors

• Guoping Zhao · Shanghai, CN
• Rui Xu · Boulder, US
• Xinwei Wu · Beijing, CN
• Changchun Tu · Jilin, CN
• Huai-Dong Song · Shanghai, CN
• Yixue Li · Shanghai, CN
• Jinlin Hou · Tangxia, CN
• Jun Xu · Gaithersburg, US
• Jun Min · Tangxia, CN

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 9, 2004
• Grant date: Jan 22, 2008
• Expiry date: Jul 18, 2024

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C12N2770/20022
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (“SARS”) is a human respiratory disease of recent origin, widespread infectivity, recurring incidence, and significant mortality. Although there is abundant evidence suggesting that the coronavirus responsible for the disease (“SARS-CoV”) evolves during an outbreak, there is currently little data on the earliest strains of this coronavirus. The present invention is directed to the characterization of the genomic RNA sequences of these earliest SARS coronaviruses, to the identification of nucleotide positions within the SARS-CoV genomic RNA that are characteristic of the different evolutionary stages of the coronavirus, to kits based on these positions for use in diagnosis of the disease in patients, and for the development of vaccines to the disease based on the lowered virulence and contagiousness of these earliest strains of SARS-CoV.