University of Wisconsin researchers announced this week that they have created a strand of the Ebola virus unable to replicate in normal cells, eliminating risks of contamination and allowing more labs to be able to study the virus.

UW pathobiological professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka and his team have discovered how to excise the gene the virus needs to replicate and survive inside a host cell.

Ebola is a virus that has sporadically sprung up in different sections of Africa since its discovery in 1976. The most recent outbreak was in Sudan in 2004. The virus regularly kills more than half the people it infects during an outbreak.

UW spokesperson Terry Devitt said the team has created a strand of the virus missing the VP30 gene. According to Devitt, this gene is responsible for creating the protein the virus needs to replicate once inside a host cell. If the virus is unable to replicate, it becomes harmless.

Kawaoka has created special cells in the lab that exhibit the VP30 gene. These cells are the only cells in which the virus can obtain the protein it needs to replicate. This is why the virus can now be handled in less secure labs.

�He has made the agent more accessible to more researchers,� Devitt said. �Research can advance at a faster pace.�

Previously, handling of the Ebola virus was only allowed in labs with a biosafety level of four, the highest level of safety. Since the development of the altered virus, Kawaoka has conducted his work at UW on Ebola in a lab with biosafety level of two.

Devitt said biosafety level four labs are also difficult places to work in, as they have little space and are expensive.

UW biosafety officer Jan Klein said Kawaoka has already started working at UW with approval of the UW Institutional Biosafety Committee.

According to Devitt, though the action is legal, the National Institute for Health still has the right to stop Kawaoka�s use of the lower safety-level lab.

Klein added there is no inspection expected by the government for Kawaoka�s current location. She said she is optimistic about the new development, its ensured safety and its effect on Ebola research.

�This is a tremendous opportunity to study the virus in a safe manner,� Klein said.

According to Klein, the previous restriction of having to use a biosafety level four lab to work with the virus hampered research and development. She added there are only a few in the entire country.

�We don�t have such a facility in the [UW] System or even the state,� Klein said. �When he gains access to such a facility, he gains access in Canada.�