Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Esiobu, Nwadiuto
Abstract
Ebolavirus is responsible for a deadly hemorrhagic fever that has claimed thousands of lives in Africa and could become a global health threat. Because of the danger of infection, novel Ebola research is restricted to BSL-4 laboratories; this slows progress due to both the cost and expertise required to operate these laboratories. The development of a safe surrogate would speed research and reduce risk to researchers. Two highly conserved Ebola gene segments—from the glycoprotein and nucleoprotein genes—were designed with modifications preventing expression while maintaining sequence integrity, spliced into high copy number plasmids, cloned into E.coli, and tested for stability, safety, and potential research applications. The surrogates were stable over 2-3 months, had a negligible mutation rate (<0.165% over the experiment), and were detectable in human blood down to 5.8E3-1.17E4 surrogates/mL. These protocols could be used to safely simulate other pathogens and promote infectious disease treatment and detection research.
Extent
48 p.
Recommended Citation
Holmes, Douglas, "Using Synthetic Biology to Create a Safe and Stable Ebola Surrogate for Effective Development of Detection and Therapy Platforms" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 2064.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/2064
Identifier
FA00013015
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.