What a single person's flu can tell you about how the virus mutates around the world

Jul 5, 2017

Influenza virus cells, high-lighted through a florescent microscope, are identified during tests at the World Health Organization (WHO) National Influenza Center in Bangkok on October 21, 2005. Thailand awaited test results on another suspected bird flu case on Friday after a resurgence of the killer virus in Asia, although Indonesian fears the H5N1 strain was mutating eased as a father and son proved negative. REUTERS/Adrees Latif - RTR19PG7

What could a single person’s flu infection tell us about how the virus changes across the world? Image: REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Katherine Xue

Doctoral Student in Genome Science, University of Washington

Jesse Bloom

Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Affiliate Associate Professor of Genome Sciences and Microbiology, University of Washington

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