Oxford Events, the new replacement for OxTalks, will launch on 16th March. From now until the launch of Oxford Events, new events cannot be published or edited on OxTalks while all existing records are migrated to the new platform. The existing OxTalks site will remain available to view during this period.
From 16th, Oxford Events will launch on a new website: events.ox.ac.uk, and event submissions will resume. You will need a Halo login to submit events. Full details are available on the Staff Gateway.
In the 1950s the myxoma virus was deliberately released into wild European rabbit populations in Australia and Europe. The subsequent pandemic decimated populations and resulted in a remarkable natural experiment, where rabbits in both continents rapidly evolved resistance to the virus. We investigated the genetic basis of this resistance by comparing the exomes of modern individuals with the exomes of historical rabbit specimens collected before the virus release. By replicating our analyses in Australia, France and the United Kingdom we found a strong pattern of parallel selection across the three countries, with the same genetic variants changing in frequency over the last 60 years. Notably, these occurred in genes involved in antiviral immunity and viral replication, and support a polygenic basis of resistance. We experimentally validated the functional role of these genes as viral modulators and showed that selection acting on three amino acids in an interferon protein increased its antiviral effect.
