What’s new
A world network to monitor coronaviruses
CoViNet - CoronaVirus Network - is an international research network for the early detection, analysis and monitoring of coronaviruses worldwide. Set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and already operating in 20 countries, it now includes the Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), as well as the Swiss Federal Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI), which is collaborating with the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern (UNIBE). This joint designation is part of a long-standing partnership between the WHO and these institutions. The members of the CoViNet met in Geneva on 26 and 27 March 2024 to define their strategic priorities and coordinate their actions.
Further information can be found in the following press release:
RocketVax AG announces new advances in the development of second-generation COVID-19 vaccines
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is here to stay and will continue to mutate, so research and development of effective vaccines must be pursued as a top priority. The research group led by Professor Volker Thiel at the Institute of Virology and Immunology and the University of Bern is developing vaccines using an attenuated SARS-CoV-2 virus.
African swine fever: host factors affect progression of the disease
Recent research conducted at the IVI in collaboration with the University of Bern have just been published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
Improved COVID-19 vector vaccine candidate
In response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, numerous research projects have been launched to develop vaccines against this emerging pathogen. In a recent publication in the Nature portfolio journal “npj vaccines”, scientists at the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) and the University of Bern report on a Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV)-vectored COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Their work shows that intramuscular immunization of mice with VSV-vectored COVID-19 vaccines is inducing strong antibody responses against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein only if the vector has been complemented with the VSV glycoprotein G.
SARS-CoV-2 : Prospects for nasal spray vaccine
As part of the National Research Programme "Covid-19" (NRP 78) of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), researchers from Bern, Geneva, Berlin (GER) and Riems (GER) are developing two vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2. Thanks to a justsigned collaboration agreement with the Basel-based biotech company RocketVax AG, they can now be prepped for phase I of the clinical trials required for regulatory approval.
Innovative research into new vaccines against Covid-19 (PDF, 362 kB, 02.12.2021)Volker Thiel, a virologist at the Institute of Virology and Immunology, is following a different approach. He is developing a live-attenuated vaccine, i.e. a vaccine containing a weakened form of the virus that does not make the recipient ill, but still provokes an immune response.
New system developed for rapid SARS-CoV-2 variant characterization and facilitated drug development (PDF, 84 kB, 18.10.2021)Researchers led by the Nobel Laureate Charles Rice of The Rockefeller University and Volker Thiel of the University of Bern and Institute of Virology and Immunology have developed a non-contagious model of SARS-CoV-2 that makes it easier, faster and safer to study the virus and new variants. In addition, the realistic model can be used to better test drugs.
Good knowledge of the BVD virus is important for its eradication (PDF, 110 kB, 17.09.2021)The eradication of bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is progressing, but the virus has not yet completely disappeared in Switzerland. The IVI, the FSVO, the Veterinary Office of Solothurn Canton and the Veterinary Office of the Original Cantons recently published the current body of knowledge on BVD virus and its control. The last infection chains must now be detected as quickly as possible and BVD-free herds protected against reinfection.
In vitro Zoo helps in understanding Sars-CoV-2 (PDF, 87 kB, 19.07.2021)A team of researchers from the Institute for Infectious Diseases (IFIK) at the University of Bern and the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) have used a unique collection of advanced cell culture models of cells lining the airways from various domesticated and wildlife animals to determine which animals are susceptibly to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
BioCopy Holding AG and Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) announce collaboration on African swine fever (PDF, 103 kB, 21.04.2021)BioCopy Holding AG and the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) have announced to collaborate in researching a vaccine and developing new diagnostic methods in the fight against African swine fever (ASF). Fatal to pigs and wild boar, the ASF virus reached Eastern Germany in 2020 after circulating in Eastern Europe for many years.
Why SARS-CoV-2 replicates better in the upper respiratory tract (PDF, 118 kB, 27.04.2021)A team of researchers from the Institute for Infectious Diseases (IFIK) at the University of Bern and the Federal Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) have assessed virus growth and activation of the cellular defense mechanisms in the respiratory tract. They have shown that natural temperature differences that exist in the upper and lower respiratory tract have a profound influence on SARS-CoV-2 replication and subsequent innate immune activation in human cells. The findings can help to develop antiviral drugs and preventive measures.
Media release
Media release
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Last modification 28.03.2024
