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The science of the host–virus network

Nature Microbiology volume 6, pages 1483–1492 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Better methods to predict and prevent the emergence of zoonotic viruses could support future efforts to reduce the risk of epidemics. We propose a network science framework for understanding and predicting human and animal susceptibility to viral infections. Related approaches have so far helped to identify basic biological rules that govern cross-species transmission and structure the global virome. We highlight ways to make modelling both accurate and actionable, and discuss the barriers that prevent researchers from translating viral ecology into public health policies that could prevent future pandemics.

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Fig. 1: Designing predictive models.
Fig. 2: Four methods of interrogating host–virus networks.
Fig. 3: Two decades of coronavirus research.

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Acknowledgements

The Viral Emergence Research Initiative (VERENA) consortium is supported by NSF BII 2021909. For more information, see viralemergence.org.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA

    Gregory F. Albery

  2. Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Daniel J. Becker

  3. Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Liam Brierley

  4. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Cara E. Brook & Sarah Guth

  5. Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Rebecca C. Christofferson

  6. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Lily E. Cohen

  7. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Tad A. Dallas

  8. Department of Biology, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, USA

    Evan A. Eskew

  9. Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Anna Fagre

  10. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Maxwell J. Farrell

  11. Disease Dynamics Unit, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Emma Glennon

  12. Earth Lab, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Maxwell B. Joseph

  13. Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Nardus Mollentze

  14. MRC - University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK

    Nardus Mollentze

  15. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Charleston, SC, USA

    Benjamin A. Neely

  16. Québec Centre for Biodiversity Sciences, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Timothée Poisot

  17. Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Timothée Poisot

  18. Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Angela L. Rasmussen

  19. Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Angela L. Rasmussen

  20. Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Sadie J. Ryan

  21. Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Sadie J. Ryan

  22. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Sadie J. Ryan

  23. Paul G. Allen School for Global Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Stephanie Seifert

  24. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA

    Anna R. Sjodin

  25. Center for Global Health Science and Security, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Erin M. Sorrell & Colin J. Carlson

  26. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Erin M. Sorrell & Colin J. Carlson

Authors
  1. Gregory F. Albery
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  2. Daniel J. Becker
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  3. Liam Brierley
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  4. Cara E. Brook
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  5. Rebecca C. Christofferson
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  6. Lily E. Cohen
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  7. Tad A. Dallas
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  8. Evan A. Eskew
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  9. Anna Fagre
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  10. Maxwell J. Farrell
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  11. Emma Glennon
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  12. Sarah Guth
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  13. Maxwell B. Joseph
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  14. Nardus Mollentze
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  15. Benjamin A. Neely
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  16. Timothée Poisot
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  17. Angela L. Rasmussen
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  18. Sadie J. Ryan
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  19. Stephanie Seifert
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  20. Anna R. Sjodin
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  21. Erin M. Sorrell
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  22. Colin J. Carlson
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Contributions

C.J.C. and G.F.A. conceived the study and drafted the manuscript, G.F.A. and C.J.C. produced visualizations, and all authors contributed to the writing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Gregory F. Albery or Colin J. Carlson.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Microbiology thanks Jonathan Dushoff, Vincent Munster and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Albery, G.F., Becker, D.J., Brierley, L. et al. The science of the host–virus network. Nat Microbiol 6, 1483–1492 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00999-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00999-5

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