Interactive Case Study for Natural Selection in an Outbreak: Interactive Video Builder: HHMI BioInteractive

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This video focuses on the front lines of the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and explains how scientists monitored the evolution of the virus by analyzing its genome.

Computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti and disease ecologist Lina Moses discuss how the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa became the largest Ebola outbreak in history. Sabeti worked with colleagues in Sierra Leone to monitor the evolution of the virus by analyzing its genome in samples from infected individuals. As the Ebola virus replicates in people, it mutates. Mutations that provide the virus with an advantage will increase in frequency in the population.

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Topics:: Natural Selection

Pathogens & Disease

Viruses

Genomics
Grade Levels:: College

High School — AP/IB

High School — General

This interactive video explores how two scientists tracked the 2013 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Geneticist Pardis Sabeti investigated the evolution of the virus over time, whereas epidemiologist Lina Moses investigated the societal factors that contributed to the outbreak. Their experiences illustrate some of the factors that can cause an outbreak to occur and why it is important to curb the spread of infection as rapidly as possible. As you watch the video, you will be prompted to answer questions that require you to predict steps in the research process and interpret data. You will also make connections to your own experiences with infectious diseases.