Luis P. VillarrealProfessor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Director, Center for Virus Research, Center for Virus Research
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Research Interests |
virus evolution, viral gene therapy vectors, BSL3 cell culture, cancer virology, proteomics, biodefense | |
| URLs | Center for Virus Research | |
| Faculty Profile | ||
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Academic Distinctions |
SACNAS Distinguished Scientist Distinguished Alumnus Award from California State University, Los Angeles National Science Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring Elected, Fellow of the American Society of Microbiology |
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| Appointments | Stanford University, Department of Biochemistry, under direction of Dr. Paul Berg, on recombinant SV40 expression | |
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Research Abstract |
For the last 15 years, I have focused my study on the general role of virus evolution on Life. In the last decade metagenomic assessments have led us to realize that viruses are the dominate biological entities of the biosphere and are the most numerous, diverse and dynamic genetic agents on Earth. Although viruses have long been dismissed from the Tree of Life a simply destructive and selfish extra-genomic genetic parasites, comparative genomics now makes it clear that viral colonization distinguishes all domains of life. I have been pursuing how and why some viruses (and their defective relatives, transposons) are able to stably persist in their host and sometimes become a colonizer of the host genome. The ability of a virus to persist is a transforming event for host population survival and requires specific mechanisms and strategies. These viral derived mechanisms, however, provide new mechanisms of immunity and identity for the host. I am now tracing how viruses have contributed to host group survival from bacteria to human social evolution. | |
| Publications | Luis P. Villarreal. 'Origin of Group Identity; Viruses, Addiction and Cooperation'. Springer Press. (2009). | |
| Luis P. Villarreal. Evolution of Viruses. In 'Encyclopedia of Viruses'. B. Mahy & M Van Regenmortel (eds.). Academic Press (2008) | ||
| Luis P. Villarreal. The widespread evolutionary significance of viruses. In 'Origin and Evolution of Viruses'. E. Domingo, C. Parrish & J. Hollandl (ed). Academic Press (2008) | ||
| Davies DH, Liang X, Hernandez JE, Randall A, Hirst S, Mu Y, Romero KM, Nguyen TT, Kalantari-Dehaghi M, Crotty S, Baldi P, Villarreal LP, Felgner PL. Profiling the humoral immune response to infection by using proteome microarrays: High-throughput vaccine and diagnostic antigen discovery. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S Jan 18;102(3):547-52, 2005. | ||
| Luis P. Villarreal. Viruses and the Evolution of Life. (ASM Press, Washington), 2004. | ||
| Luis P. Villarreal, "Can Viruses Make Us Human?" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 148.3: 296-323. September 2004. | ||
| Luis P. Villarreal, "Are Viruses Alive?" Scientific American, 96-102 December 2004. | ||
| Shane Crotty, Phil Felgner, Huw Davies, John Glidewell, Luis Villarreal, and Rafi Ahmed. Cutting Edge: Long term B Cell Memory in Humans after Smallpox Vaccination. J. of Immunology 171: 4969-4973, 2003. | ||
| A. Z. Randall, P. Baldi, and L. P. Villarreal. Structural Proteomics of the Poxvirus Family. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Journal, special issue on “Data mining in Genomics and Proteomics” 31: 105-115. 2004. | ||
| López-Bueno, A., Villarreal, L.P. Almendral, J.M. Parvovirus Variation for Disease: A Difference with RNA Viruses? in CTMI 299. Springer: New York. (2005) | ||
| Luis P. Villarreal. How viruses shape the tree of life, Future Virology, 1(5): 587-595. (2006) | ||
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Professional Societies |
American Society for Microbiology Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans |
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| Graduate Programs |
Virology Biotechnology |
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| Research Center | Center for Virus Research | |
| Link to this profile | http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=2705 | |
| Last updated | 06/11/2009 | |