{"id":6639,"date":"2015-11-24T14:35:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T19:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/?p=6639"},"modified":"2019-03-08T03:29:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T03:29:00","slug":"fighting-ebola-from-the-ground-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/fighting-ebola-from-the-ground-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Ebola from the Ground Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all heard about Ebola in the news and how humankind reacted to this devastating outbreak. Amidst the chaos, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.calicivirus.path.cam.ac.uk\/lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Professor Ian Goodfellow<\/a> from the University of Cambridge set out on a heroic journey to understand this deadly virus and its evolution in real time, in Sierra Leone, West Africa \u2013 the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Dr. Goodfellow\u2019s journey by watching the video.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"760\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Tc8b9XqLua0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When I heard about the Ebola outbreak on the news, I was curious to learn about what this virus was all about. The Ebola virus is a zoonotic virus which means it can be transmitted from animals to humans. The virus has been around for almost <a href=\"http:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plospathogens\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.ppat.1005221\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">50 years<\/a>, evolving over time. It\u2019s most common hosts are fruit bats and when infected, the bats show no symptoms, acting as reservoirs for the virus. The Ebola virus can then be transmitted to humans through uncooked meats from infected animals or exposure to bodily fluids. While the virus is harmless to bats, it\u2019s fatal to humans.<\/p>\n<p>When the common man was worried about getting infected, Dr. Goodfellow took up the challenge. Dr. Goodfellow and his team wanted to study how this virus evolved in real-time, for which he had to be in Sierra Leone. Before Dr. Goodfellow\u2019s arrival, there were no next-generation sequencing facilities in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n<p>Before setting off to Sierra Leone, Dr. Goodfellow evaluated several options to set up the research lab, before choosing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/us\/en\/home\/life-science\/sequencing\/next-generation-sequencing\/ion-torrent-next-generation-sequencing-workflow\/ion-torrent-next-generation-sequencing-run-sequence\/ion-pgm-system-for-next-generation-sequencing.htmlhttps:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/order\/catalog\/product\/BTVNS350?socid=social_btb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ion PGM\u2122 System<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/us\/en\/home\/life-science\/sequencing\/next-generation-sequencing\/ion-torrent-next-generation-sequencing-workflow\/prepare-template\/ion-torrent-next-generation-sequencing-ion-chef-system.html?socid=social_btb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ion Chef\u2122 System<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/us\/en\/home\/life-science\/sequencing\/dna-sequencing\/targeted-sequencing\/targeted-sequencing-ion-torrent-next-generation-sequencing\/ampliseq-panels.html?socid=social_btb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ion AmpliSeq\u2122 technology<\/a> to study the virus. He and his team shipped all the sequencing equipment from Scotland to Sierra Leone and set up a lab from the ground up. The lab was set up in tents, outdoors, far from the traditional laboratory. The fluctuating temperatures, humidity, dust, and insects, were uncontrollable factors the team had to consider and account for while performing their experiments. It\u2019s just mind-boggling to imagine running a sequencer as a grasshopper walks all over your instrument.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s so inspiring how the team set up all their lab equipment in a tent in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 The team was not only successful in setting up a research lab and making sure the instruments were in working condition, but they were able to study this deadly virus first hand, during the epidemic to understand its evolution. As the Ebola epidemic wound down, Dr. Goodfellow has plans to establish an infectious disease laboratory at the University of Makeni, which will allow other scientists in Sierra Leone access to next- generation sequencing technology, to retrospectively analyze outbreak samples and to study other infectious diseases.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Goodfellow\u2019s noble aim to provide his expertise to help humanity by understanding the Ebola virus also provided Sierra Leone with its very own next-generation sequencing facility which will be available to all the scientists in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n<p>This research to study Ebola would not have been possible without the support of many individuals and organizations. You can read more about the <a href=\"http:\/\/news.thermofisher.com\/press-release\/life-technologies\/scientists-release-ebola-sequencing-data-global-research-community-o?socid=social_btb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/us\/en\/home\/life-science\/sequencing\/dna-sequencing\/microbial-sequencing\/microbial-identification-ion-torrent-next-generation-sequencing.html?socid=social_btb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">instruments<\/a> used for this research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all heard about Ebola in the news and how humankind reacted to this devastating outbreak. Amidst the chaos, Professor Ian Goodfellow from the University of Cambridge set out on a heroic journey to understand this deadly virus and its evolution in real time, in Sierra Leone, West Africa \u2013 the epicenter of the Ebola<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":6679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[11,6,156,157],"division":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-infectious-diseases","8":"tag-ion-torrent","9":"tag-next-generation-sequencing","10":"tag-targeted-dna-sequencing","11":"tag-targeted-rna-sequencing","12":"entry"},"_selected_authors":"","_selected_reviewers":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fighting Ebola from the Ground Up - Behind the Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/fighting-ebola-from-the-ground-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fighting Ebola from the Ground Up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all heard about Ebola in the news and how humankind reacted to this devastating outbreak. 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Today\u2019s labs are not only looking for accuracy\u2014they need speed, flexibility, and reliable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DNA sequencing sample tube with DNA helix and sequencing chromatogram representing Sanger sequencing workflow.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-5-2026-09_44_12-AM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-5-2026-09_44_12-AM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-5-2026-09_44_12-AM.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-5-2026-09_44_12-AM.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-5-2026-09_44_12-AM.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-5-2026-09_44_12-AM.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19645,"url":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/aav-viral-vector-analytics-cdmo\/","url_meta":{"origin":6639,"position":1},"title":"Almost a Virus: How CDMOs Enable Scalable Cell and Gene Therapy","author":"Behind The Bench Staff","date":"April 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In this episode of Absolute Gene-ius, Dr. Dan Mitchell, Senior Director of Analytical Development and Quality Control at Matica Biotechnology, explains how contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) support the advancement of cell and gene therapies. The discussion focuses on viral vector development, analytical strategies, and the technologies used to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Pharma &amp; Biotech Manufacturing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Pharma &amp; Biotech Manufacturing","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/pharmamfg\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Headshot of a man with dark hair and a beard wearing a suit and tie against a neutral background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/04\/DMitchell-Headshot-1_Jordan-Ruggieri.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/04\/DMitchell-Headshot-1_Jordan-Ruggieri.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/04\/DMitchell-Headshot-1_Jordan-Ruggieri.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/04\/DMitchell-Headshot-1_Jordan-Ruggieri.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/04\/DMitchell-Headshot-1_Jordan-Ruggieri.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/04\/DMitchell-Headshot-1_Jordan-Ruggieri.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19676,"url":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/avian-influenza-qpcr-assay-failure\/","url_meta":{"origin":6639,"position":2},"title":"Avian Influenza qPCR Testing: How Viral Evolution Contributes to Assay Failure\u2014and How Labs Can Stay Ahead","author":"Behind The Bench Staff","date":"May 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Molecular veterinary diagnostic laboratories rely on reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (RT qPCR) assays to detect avian influenza virus (AIV) quickly and accurately. These assays are central to surveillance programs, outbreak response, and disease control\u2014particularly for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strains such as H5Nx. As Influenza A viruses continue to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Animal Health and AgriGenomics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Animal Health and AgriGenomics","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/animal-health-and-agrigenomics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chickens in a flock on a farm representing poultry populations monitored for avian influenza surveillance.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Untitled-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Untitled-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Untitled-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Untitled-3.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19748,"url":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/andes-virus-rt-qpcr-detection-workflow\/","url_meta":{"origin":6639,"position":3},"title":"Responding to Hantavirus: Advancing Rapid Molecular Detection","author":"Behind The Bench Staff","date":"May 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Article Summary Laboratories responding to the emerging 2026 Andes hantavirus incident need rapid, scalable molecular workflows that can integrate into existing RT-qPCR infrastructure. This workflow is best suited for public health laboratories, surveillance programs, academic research labs, and high-throughput testing facilities seeking rapid research-use-only (RUO) molecular detection capabilities. By combining\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Infectious Diseases&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Infectious Diseases","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/infectious-diseases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Illustration of hantavirus transmission showing rodent-derived viral particles entering the human respiratory system.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Hantavirus-3-1_Geoffrey-Cassell.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Hantavirus-3-1_Geoffrey-Cassell.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Hantavirus-3-1_Geoffrey-Cassell.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Hantavirus-3-1_Geoffrey-Cassell.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Hantavirus-3-1_Geoffrey-Cassell.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19883,"url":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/building-a-better-sample-qc-workflow-from-extraction-to-sequencing\/","url_meta":{"origin":6639,"position":4},"title":"Building a Better Sample QC Workflow: From Extraction to Sequencing","author":"Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane","date":"August 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Article Summary Successful genomics experiments don't begin with sequencing\u2014they begin with sample quality. Every downstream application, from PCR to next-generation sequencing (NGS), depends on starting with nucleic acids that are accurately quantified and free from contaminants that could compromise results. Establishing a consistent quality control workflow helps laboratories improve reproducibility\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A pipette drops a liquid into a petri dish with a dna sequence background, science concept. 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She explains why children can act as asymptomatic reservoirs, why tracking bacterial serotypes matters, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Infectious Diseases&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Infectious Diseases","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/infectious-diseases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donna Paznar discussing molecular methods for identifying Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/Paznar_Headshot_Jordan-Ruggieri-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/Paznar_Headshot_Jordan-Ruggieri-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/Paznar_Headshot_Jordan-Ruggieri-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/Paznar_Headshot_Jordan-Ruggieri-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/Paznar_Headshot_Jordan-Ruggieri-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/Paznar_Headshot_Jordan-Ruggieri-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/behindthebench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2015\/11\/ebola1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6639"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/behindthebench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/division?post=6639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}