Open Science Sessions: The Evolution of Respiratory Viruses-Hypotheses and Practical Considerations

PANDA’s internal weekly Open Science Sessions provide an opportunity for science, research and policy to be presented by various leading international experts in a variety of diverse fields. These sessions lead to fascinating open discussions and debate and allow our scientists to broaden their understanding and inspire new ideas.

Patrick Shaw Stewart worked in the laboratory of Professor David Blow at Imperial College in the 1980s. David was one of the well-known early crystallographers who worked with (Nobel laureate) Max Perutz and others. He invented a very early microfluidic device which the lab used for protein crystallization. In 1987, Patrick and another Imperial College scientist set up Douglas Instruments Ltd, and the company has made systems for automatic protein crystallization ever since. Altogether, their papers on protein crystallization and other topics have been cited over 1,488 times. After being laughed at by a colleague in India in 2011 for suggesting that he could find biochemical evidence that respiratory viruses respond to temperature fluctuations, Patrick became interested in the seasonality and pathogenicity of respiratory viruses, including tropical strains. He published a review article on the topic in Medical Hypotheses in 2016 and another in Reviews in Medical Virology in 2021 in collaboration with Julia L Bach.