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Jesse Bloom applies experimental and computational approaches to understand the evolution of proteins and viruses. Bloom and his team aim to identify the underlying molecular changes that enable medically important evolutionary events such as drug resistance, immune escape, and host-species transfer. To do this, they are making tens of thousands of mutations in flu viruses and examining their effects while also charting genetic changes that appear in nature. Bloom’s goal is to discern patterns in virus and protein evolution and use his mathematical modeling skills to predict what’s coming — offering a major public health advance. The work could lead to therapeutics and vaccines that are more resistant to viral evolutionary escape.