A Mediterranean Crisis: My Fulbright Proposal
Morbillivirus, which causes measles in humans, has been responsible for mass mortalities in several species of marine mammals. The first evidence of its devastating impact came in 1988, when one strain wiped out almost 20,000 common seals in the North Sea. In 1990 another strain killed more than 500 striped dolphins off the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and France. A year later, viral strains were isolated from the same species of dolphins dying along the coasts of Italy and Greece.
The morbillivirus was quiet for nearly two decades, before making a comeback this August, when striped dolphins washed up by the dozens on beaches in Spain. Their corpses were recovered from spans of Spanish coast, including Murcia and Valencia, and sent to the Animal Health Institute of Las Palmas for analysis, where doctors confirmed bad news. These dolphins were the first victims of the same virus that had devastated thousands of sea creatures nearly 20 years ago. Its comeback, according to Spain’s environment ministry, is a veritable crisis; it could kill up to two-thirds of the country’s striped dolphins—a protected species with a population of just 118,000. This has prompted Spain’s environment ministry officials to appeal to other nations in the Mediterranean basin for assistance.
As the virus plays out, tracking it will necessitate the gathering of Spanish regional governments in affected regions and environmental experts at universities and conservation centers. For my Fulbright independent research project, I plan to combine my background in molecular genetics with my skill as an investigative science writer to assist in characterizing virus isolates from outbreaks of mortalities in Mediterranean striped dolphins and, more broadly, to report on how the wider Mediterranean region responds to the morbillivirus crisis. My laboratory work and investigative efforts will help me answer three questions—two of which speak to specific interests of the international scientific community and the third of which will inform a series of articles I plan to write for general Spanish and English audiences.
1) Does the new virus strain have a mutation, and are dolphins losing their immunity as a consequence?
2) Does the presence of the virus vary geographically?
3) What joint research and/or sampling efforts will be undertaken by the countries along the Mediterranean basin?
To gain insight into the comeback of the morbillivirus, I will work as part of a team to sample specimens throughout the Mediterranean—a process requiring at least a month. After standing knee-high in mud and sand on the shores, I will bring my specimens to lab tables at the University of Valencia. My sponsor there, Juan Antonio Raga, PhD, a professor in the Department of Animal Biology at the Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, has produced two important papers on the impact of the morbillivirus in the past decade. Additionally, the University of Valencia’s Marine Zoology Unit has kept a record of dolphin, porpoise, and whale strandings off the Mediterranean since 1982—long before the first epidemic—making Dr. Raga’s laboratory an ideal starting point for my research on the morbillivirus.
Despite the mass mortalities attributed to this virus, relatively little is known about the factors that cause it and the immune response to the disease agent. Even less is known about why it has resurfaced. Hypotheses suggest that the virus strains were already carried by the animals, but mutated and became more virulent.
In Dr. Raga’s lab, I hope to assist in experiments to better understand the molecular determinants of morbillivirus pathogenesis. To investigate the possibility that the virus is mutating, I will employ a technique known as polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. I used this technique in an upper level molecular genetics course at Gettysburg College in which I studied sequence substitution in human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)—the rate of which is essential to the understanding of human evolution. My study in Spain would involve collecting blood samples from affected dolphins and testing them for the presence of morbillivirus-specific antibodies using an ELISA assay. After isolating these viral particles, I would amplify their genomic sequences with PCR. The amplifications would allow me to observe whether mutations were present in dominant epitopes—virus molecules recognized by the immune system.
To evaluate the second inquiry, the possibility of variability in the disease by region, I would use a quantitative PCR assay to assess viral sequence diversity among samples. Samples I’d collected, as well as the samples delivered to the University of Valencia would provide a wide genetic population from which to detect and characterize different strains of morbillivirus. I could map varying strains to geographic distributions, exploring patterns. If patterns were detected, I would explore their causes. For example, it is possible that the morbillivirus resurfaced because pollution in the water damaged dolphins’ immune systems, leaving them prone to infection. If pollutants were to blame, I could test water samples by region to understand the sources of impurity.
After assisting in field work with the research team in Dr. Raga’s laboratory, I hope to co-author a scientific paper detailing unique insights and breakthroughs—no matter how big or small. One problem among US scientists today is their reluctance to share scientific developments in their egg stages. This hesitance has contributed to America’s lag in contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the issues surrounding global warming. My work, reporting early on the virus, would counter this thinking.
In conjunction with laboratory work and relevant publications, I plan to interview government officials in affected regions to understand how they prioritize eradicating a potentially deadly virus, and how they plan to solicit resources from abroad, which is already ongoing. Conducting personal interviews is something my current position has familiarized me with repeatedly. Furthermore, my previous studies in Spain allowed me to develop Spanish speaking and writing skills, making this project feasible from a communication standpoint.
I plan to write and pitch a series of feature stories for both English and Spanish news outlets. With an understanding of the impact of the virus on striped dolphins and its potential to continue to threaten, I can convey a story that will inform infectious disease scientists and interested readers worldwide. Relevant stories would interest magazines like Science or New Scientist, as well as Spanish publications like El País, the most widely circulated daily newspaper in Spain.
My role as American scientist and writer investigating dolphin health becomes especially important in light of hesitance on the part of US politicians to commit to marine conservation efforts. In late September, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—a 25 year-old treaty that virtually every other developed, ocean-going nation has already joined. Ratifying it would help protect dolphins. Yet ratification remains stalled, as of recently, in the Senate. It is my hope that comprehensive efforts to research the resurgence of morbillivirus in striped dolphins will strengthen my stance from which to shape and disseminate science news that will expedite US commitment. Ultimately, my work will contribute uniquely to an important story—one whose characters, scientific a nd otherwise, know no borders.
.MGW.
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