Study examines ‘virus and host’ factors in African swine fever
Researchers from The Pirbright Institute are joining UCL experts in a study to understand how African swine fever virus (ASFV) enters and replicates in pig cells.
Researchers from The Pirbright Institute are joining UCL experts in a study to understand how African swine fever virus (ASFV) enters and replicates in pig cells.
The Pirbright Institute has joined a European Union-funded project which will study next-generation vaccines against African swine fever (ASF).
A unique study has highlighted an important role for ‘helper’ T-cells in enabling sheep to mount a timely protective immune response to bluetongue virus (BTV) infection.
Transmitted by Culicoides biting midges, bluetongue virus has recently been detected in over 80 sheep and cattle across farms spanning three counties in southern and eastern England. Infected midges are thought to have been blown across the channel from the Netherlands, where it was first detected at the end of last year.
The Pirbright Institute has co-signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) to create an animal disease and zoonosis laboratory partnership with the UK.
A member of the animal services team at The Pirbright Institute has been elected to the council of the UK’s leading expert body on the care of animals used in experimental studies.
Lauren Cresser, Home Office Liaison Contact and Named Information Officer at The Pirbright Institute, has accepted a four-year position as a Council Member of the Laboratory Animal Science Association (LASA).
Founded in 1963, LASA is a consortium of industrial, university, ministry and research council representatives.
Defra has announced a seasonally ‘vector low’ period when midge activity is much lower, leading to some changes to disease control measures for bluetongue virus (BTV-3).
BTV-3 is the new strain of virus currently being found in northern Europe and UK. The virus is mainly transmitted via biting midges and affects cattle, goats, sheep and camelids, such as llamas.
Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have found it is possible to generate novel vaccines for avian bronchitis that are capable of replicating in cell culture.
Writing in the journal PLOS One, the team outline how a virus generated using reverse genetics was found to offer 100% protection against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), an avian coronavirus that causes major economic losses to poultry industries across the globe.
The quest for gender equality at The Pirbright Institute has been recognised through an Athena Swan Silver Award.
The Athena Swan Charter is a framework used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research.
The five-year accreditation acknowledges Pirbright’s achievements in addressing key priorities such as gender balance amongst students and staff at all career levels.
The Pirbright Institute is cutting fossil fuel energy use and costs across its Surrey campus in 2024.
The Institute analysed the energy efficiency of its buildings and infrastructure in 2022-23 to develop a site-wide energy plan that drives down gas and electricity consumption.
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan, has appointed Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith as the new Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
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