1918 Pandemic Genetic Sequence Assembled Through World War I Human Tissue from 100-Year-Old Preserved Lungs

During World War I, two German soldiers died not because of the battle but because of a new influenza strain that killed nearly 50 million people early in 1918. The lungs of the two soldiers had been preserved 100 years after the pandemic in the Berlin Museum of Medical History.

Today, the genetic sequence of the virus harvested from the fallen men has been examined by experts. It uncovered some clues to identify how the catastrophic pandemic in 1918 worked and affected millions of the world's population. In addition, the sequence showed bits of how the first and second waves of the old pandemic have transitioned.

According to a study by bioRxiv entitled "Archival influenza virus genomes from Europe reveal genomic and phenotypic variability during the 1918 pandemic", the same genome from the virus had been collected and sequenced from a Munich woman who lived in the same year.

Genome Sequencing 1918 Influenza Strain

Genetic sequencing is one of the convenient and most comprehensible processes of identifying clues about most of the pandemics in history. Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, researchers have managed to identify new and old variants using a collected 1 million SARS-CoV-2 genomes. On the other hand, even though it produces vital information for scientific investigations, sequencing a viral genome was the hardest thing to do in the early days.

The H1N1 virus, for example, had been a demanding project. Researchers back in the year 2000 had to assemble one genome from a body buried beneath Alaska's frozen preserve, as stated in the study "Characterization of the 1918 influenza virus polymerase genes".

In 2013, they did another sequencing from a tissue preserved in formalin contained in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, according to the research "High-throughput RNA sequencing of a formalin-fixed, paraffinembedded autopsy lung tissue sample from the 1918 influenza pandemic."

The detailed process of genome sequence research costs many funds, is very delicate, and uses a lot of time. Even before beginning the study and tracking down a preserved specimen may lead to nothing. The researchers who conducted the recent influenza sequencing have also had a hard time locating their samples and reports Science Mag.

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1918 Pandemic Virus Evolving

The 1918 virus has been examined with the help of genome sequencing innovation. The findings conclude that the nucleoprotein of the virus shows a possible evolution of the 1918 flu strains. Nucleoprotein is a structural type of protein that points out what species a virus can affect.

The two previous specimens of 1918 influenza carry two separate mutations. The mutations are in the genes that 'power up' influenza, passing by the human body's defense system and making it porous. The flue strain from Munich was found to have a birdlike trait of the nucleoprotein. On the other hand, the Munich specimen was a dead-end since the person's cause of death wasn't identified.

On the bright side, researchers took advantage of the full genome from the Munich genes to resurrect the virus' polymerase complex and showed that the Munich strain was half active compared to Alaska's polymerase complex.

Overall, the genes of Munich, Alaska, and the genome from the two WWI soldiers have collectively sourced much information regarding the 1918 pandemic. Furthermore, the contribution of the genes from 1918 will give way to uncover the mutation of many viruses and point out possible solutions in case of another pandemic.