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  • OUTLOOK

On the lookout for viruses that could leap from animals into humans

Virologist Sara Sawyer explains how the ability of an animal virus to infect humans can be tested, and highlights a viral family of concern.
  1. Simon Makin

    1. Simon Makin is a freelance writer in Reading, UK.

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Viruses are finely tuned to their hosts, but mutations can and have produced strains that can jump from animals into humans. Sara Sawyer, a virologist at the BioFrontiers Institute of the University of Colorado, Boulder, spoke to Nature about what a virus must do to make the leap between species, and describes a worrying discovery her laboratory has made regarding a future threat.

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Nature 610, S41 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03357-5

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Pandemic preparedness, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

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