One of the papers--"Characterization of the 1918 influenza virus polymerase genes" published in Nature--details the final three genes of the 1918 human influenza virus, which is thought to have killed up to 50 million people. While authors of the other winning paper--"Characterization of the reconstructed 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic virus" published in Science--used the full genome sequence to recreate the virus and study its effects in mice.

In a Comment, The Lancet states: "The editors congratulate the 16 authors, for completing a fascinating piece of research that could prove to be crucially important when the next influenza pandemic breaks."

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Contact: Joe Santangelo
j.santangelo@elsevier.com
212-633-3810
Lancet
23-Feb-2006