Survival and adaptation of viruses within respiratory droplets: a combined molecular biological and biophysical study

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted significant gaps in our understanding of respiratory virus transmission. Respiratory viruses must survive within respiratory droplets in order to transmit and infect others, but we have little understanding of the stresses they are exposed to and how the virus particles interact with droplet components such as mucus. Using a vaccine strain of influenza, I will initially explore how viral infectivity depends on various physical parameters such as pH, humidity, salt concentration and the presence of mucus in bulk solution (flasks). By using genetic manipulation of several viral structural components, I will then explore potential adaptions influenza may have made to withstand these environmental stresses. In parallel, I will develop a model respiratory droplet to investigate how these findings of viral survival in bulk solutions translate into this more realistic environment for understanding air-borne transmission. Here, extra complications such as the development of a core- shell structure due to mucus accumulation at the air-water interface may have important biophysical implications. These studies should give us deeper insight into the mechanisms of and constraints on viral transmission, forming a basis for improved infection control methods and policies.