Developments in Brief : Hepatitis B Virus Grown in Test Tube

The long quest to grow the hepatitis B virus in a test tube has been achieved, and scientists say the breakthrough should speed the search for new drugs to fight the disease.

Although the virus easily infects people, scientists had failed until now to make it thrive in human tissue in test tubes, a key step in learning how the virus functions and in testing medicines that might kill it, according to Dr. Myron Essex of the Harvard School of Public Health. He heads a research team that reported its findings in the current issue of the journal Cell.

The hepatitis B virus infects 200,000 Americans annually. It can cause cirrhosis and other liver diseases, including liver cancer. Vaccines are available to prevent hepatitis B infection, but there is no good treatment once infections occur. Most people infected recover completely, but a small minority become long-term carriers of the virus and are more likely to develop chronic liver disease and liver tumors.

Now that the virus can be grown in human tissue, researchers will be able to test experimental anti-viral drugs to see if they will stop the virus.

In a related development, scientists also have discovered the genetic code for an unusual virus that causes another, especially deadly, form of hepatitis. And the new knowledge about the “delta” virus may help doctors diagnose and evaluate therapy for the disease, which afflicts an estimated 30,000 Americans.