Article by Simon Makin: “Leap is a machine-learning algorithm that uses sequence data to classify influenza viruses as either avian or human. The model had been trained on a huge number of influenza genomes — including examples of H5N8 — to learn the differences between those that infect people and those that infect birds. But the model had never seen an H5N8 virus categorized as human, and Carlson was curious to see what it made of this new subtype.
Somewhat surprisingly, the model identified it as human with 99.7% confidence. Rather than simply reiterating patterns in its training data, such as the fact that H5N8 viruses do not typically infect people, the model seemed to have inferred some biological signature of compatibility with humans. “It’s stunning that the model worked,” says Carlson. “But it’s one data point; it would be more stunning if I could do it a thousand more times.”
The zoonotic process of viruses jumping from wildlife to people causes most pandemics. As climate change and human encroachment on animal habitats increase the frequency of these events, understanding zoonoses is crucial to efforts to prevent pandemics, or at least to be better prepared.
Researchers estimate that around 1% of the mammalian viruses on the planet have been identified1, so some scientists have attempted to expand our knowledge of this global virome by sampling wildlife. This is a huge task, but over the past decade or so, a new discipline has emerged — one in which researchers use statistical models and machine learning to predict aspects of disease emergence, such as global hotspots, likely animal hosts or the ability of a particular virus to infect humans. Advocates of such ‘zoonotic risk prediction’ technology argue that it will allow us to better target surveillance to the right areas and situations, and guide the development of vaccines and therapeutics that are most likely to be needed.
However, some researchers are sceptical of the ability of predictive technology to cope with the scale and ever-changing nature of the virome. Efforts to improve the models and the data they rely on are under way, but these tools will need to be a part of a broader effort if they are to mitigate future pandemics…(More)”.