Pirbright to study the threats of new SARS-CoV-2 variants as part of a new consortium
Pirbright is to take a lead role in a new national research project to study the effects of emerging mutations in SARS-CoV-2.
Pirbright is to take a lead role in a new national research project to study the effects of emerging mutations in SARS-CoV-2.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, is thought to have originated in bats, but how it jumped hosts to infect humans is unclear, as is the potential for the virus to infect other animal species. Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have identified key differences in SARS-CoV-2 that may be responsible for the jump from bats to humans, as well as establishing which animals have cellular receptors that allow the virus to enter most effectively.
Prof Sir Dave Stuart, the Director of Life Sciences at Diamond Light Source and MRC Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford, and Head of the Division of Structural Biology at the Department of Clinical Medicine, has been awarded a Knighthood for his years of work in structural biology and his recent contributions to scientific understanding of COVID-19.
A new gene that determines the sex of malaria mosquitoes has been discovered by scientists at The Pirbright Institute. The gene, named femaleless by the researchers, can be manipulated to prevent female mosquitoes from developing (only females bite to feed on blood and spread disease), which could provide a new means for genetic control of mosquito populations that could be used to break malaria transmission.
A new gene that determines the sex of malaria mosquitoes has been discovered by scientists at The Pirbright Institute. The gene, named femaleless by the researchers, can be manipulated to prevent female mosquitoes from developing (only females bite to feed on blood and spread disease), which could provide a new means for genetic control of mosquito populations that could be used to break malaria transmission.
Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have identified the genetic markers on avian influenza (‘bird flu’) viruses that could help the viruses to jump the species barrier and cause disease in people, in collaboration with other members of the One Health Poultry Hub.
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