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Midge enclosure at the Tiny Giants exhibit

Pirbright midges featured in ZSL London Zoo exhibit

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have worked with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) London Zoo to showcase the importance of Culicoides biting midges within the Zoo’s revamped ‘ Tiny Giants’ exhibit. The exhibit shines a spotlight on the planet’s smallest animals…

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Experimental transmission of Leishmania (Mundinia) parasites by biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Leishmania parasites, causative agents of leishmaniasis, are currently divided into four subgenera: Leishmania, Viannia, Sauroleishmania and Mundinia. The recently established subgenus Mundinia has a wide geographical distribution and contains five species, three of which…

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Recurrent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion H69/V70 and its role in the variant of concern lineage B.1.1.7

We report SARS-CoV-2 spike ΔH69/V70 in multiple independent lineages, often occurring after acquisition of the receptor binding motif replacements such as N439K and Y453F known to increase binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and confer antibody escape. In vitro, we show…

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Recurrent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion H69/V70 and its role in the variant of concern lineage B.1.1.7

We report SARS-CoV-2 spike ΔH69/V70 in multiple independent lineages, often occurring after acquisition of the receptor binding motif replacements such as N439K and Y453F known to increase binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and confer antibody escape. In vitro, we show…

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Evolutionary and ecological drivers shape the emergence and extinction of foot-and-mouth disease virus lineages

Livestock farming across the world is constantly threatened by evolutionary turnover of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) strains in endemic systems, the underlying dynamics of which remain to be elucidated. Here, we map the eco-evolutionary landscape of co-circulating…

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An engineered maturation cleavage provides a recombinant mimic of foot-and-mouth disease virus capsid assembly-disassembly

Picornavirus capsids are assembled from 60 copies of a capsid precursor via a pentameric assembly intermediate or ‘pentamer’. Upon completion of virion assembly, a maturation event induces a final cleavage of the capsid precursor to create the capsid protein VP4, which is…

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An Aedes aegypti-derived Ago2 knockout cell line to investigate arbovirus infections

Mosquitoes are known as important vectors of many arthropod-borne (arbo)viruses causing disease in humans. These include dengue (DENV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses. The exogenous small interfering (si)RNA (exo-siRNA) pathway is believed to be the main antiviral defense in…

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Manipulation of the unfolded protein response: A pharmacological strategy against coronavirus infection

Coronavirus infection induces the unfolded protein response (UPR), a cellular signalling pathway composed of three branches, triggered by unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) due to high ER load. We have used RNA sequencing and ribosome profiling to…

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Manipulation of the unfolded protein response: A pharmacological strategy against coronavirus infection

Coronavirus infection induces the unfolded protein response (UPR), a cellular signalling pathway composed of three branches, triggered by unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) due to high ER load. We have used RNA sequencing and ribosome profiling to…

a vaccine vial on blue background with overlayed text saying 'One health vaccinology, the key to preventing future pandemics?

Pirbright collaboration illuminates path to preventing future pandemics through ‘One Health vaccinology’

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided yet another stark reminder that more than 70 percent of human infectious diseases emerge from animal populations. It has further emphasised the need for a more holistic approach to developing vaccines and treatments that could improve the…