Gorka Lasso

 

Computational Biology of Emerging Viruses

 

The Lassolab works at the intersection of computational biology and virology. We apply computational approaches – including structural bioinformatics, network biology, and machine learning – to study molecular interactions that drive infection by (re)emerging zoonotic viruses such as poxviruses, coronaviruses, and influenza A viruses.

 

With globalization and climate change accelerating viral spillover and outbreak risks, our work aims to establish predictive and therapeutic strategies to mitigate future pandemics. Our research focuses on three key areas:

  1. The zoonotic and pathogenic potential of emerging viruses.
  2. Host genetic variation in viral infection.
  3. Molecular interactions underpinning viral infection.

To achieve this, we develop computational tools to uncover critical protein interactions and amino acid variations that influence infection outcomes.

 

Selected Publications

  1. Lasso G*, Grodus M*, Valencia E*, DeJesus V, Liang E, Delwel I, Bortz RH, Lupyan D, Ehrlich HY, Castellanos AA, Gazzo A, Wells HL, Wacharapluesadee S, Tremeau-Bravard A, Seetahal JFR, Hughes T, Lee J, Lee M-H, Sjodin AR, Geldenhuys M, Mortlock M, Navarrete-Macias I, Gilardi K, Willig MR, Nava AFD, Loh EH, Asrat M, Smiley-Evans T, Magesa WS, Zikankuba S, Wolking D, Suzán G, Ojeda-Flores R, Carrington CVF, Islam A, Esptein JH, Markotter W, Johnson CK, Goldstein T, Han BA, Mazet JAK, Jangra RK†, Chandran K†, Anthony SJ†. Decoding the blueprint of receptor binding by filoviruses through large-scale binding assays and machine learning. Cell Host Microb. 2025 Feb 12;33(2):294-313.e11
  2. Haslwanter D, Lasso G, Wec AZ, Furtado ND, Raphael LMS, Sun Y, Stransky S, Pedreño-Lopez N, Tse A, Correia CA, Bornholdt ZA, Sakharkar M, Avelino-Silva VI, Moyer CL, Watkins DI, Kallas EG, Sidoli S, Walker LM, Bonaldo MC, Chandran K (2022). Genotype-specific Features Reduce the Susceptibility of South American Yellow Fever Virus Strains to Vaccine-Induced Antibodies. Cell Host Microb Feb 9;30(2):248-259.e6
  3. Lasso G, Honig B, Shapira SD. (2021) A Sweep of Earth’s Virome Reveals Host-Guided Viral Protein Structural Mimicry and Points to Determinants of Human Disease. Cell Syst. Jan20; 12(1):82-91.e3.
  4. Lasso G, Mayer SV, Winkelman ER, Chu T, Elliot O, Patino-Galindo JA, Park k, Rabadan R, Honig B, Shapira SD. (2019) A structure informed atlas of human-virus interactions. Cell Sep 5; 178(6):1526-1541.e16.

 

Links

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