Nature Filoviruses, a group of negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses that encompasses Ebola, Marburg and Sudan viruses, among others, cause frequent deadly outbreaks. While some therapies and vaccines have been developed, treatment options are still limited, and the need to better understand the interplay between host factors and viral infection throughout the viral life cycle is urgent.
To tackle this challenge, researchers led by Paul Blainey at the Broad Institute and Robert Davey at Boston University used optical pooled screening (OPS) technology to assay the effects of genetic perturbations of host factors on different stages of the life cycle of Ebola, uncovering previously unknown positive and negative modulators of infection.