(Yicai Global) Oct. 16 -- Through an experiment on lab mice, a research team at the China Academy of Sciences' Wuhan Institute of Virology has made a critical breakthrough in the pathogenesis of the Ebola virus, with recent findings being published in global periodical Protein & Cell.

One of the deadliest viruses for humans, mankind has yet to discover Ebola's pathogenesis. Until now, studies on the virus' glycoprotein were all at initial stages and didn't have experimental evidence from live bodies, said Wang Hualin, a researcher at the institute. Due to the danger of the project, researchers at the lab need to abide by strict health and safety rules.

The research was carried out in a safe environment using gene transfer technology, which can act as a model for further research, he added. The findings show that glycoprotein plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Ebola, and the experimental model could be used to develop intervention means or therapeutic drugs for the virus in the future.

First identified in 1976 in Africa, Ebola spreads through bodily fluids and blood and has a mortality rate of 90 percent. A vaccine for the virus was introduced at the end of 2016, but there are still no effective therapeutic drugs.