Shedding New Light on Viruses

Analysis of viruses with a combination of mass spectrometry and X-ray laser

19-Dec-2022 - Professor Dr. Charlotte Uetrecht from the University of Siegen is studying the structures of proteins and protein complexes in coronaviruses and noroviruses, and how they change over the viral lifecycle. She is developing a new method to obtain as much information as possible about states of ...

How Noroviruses control their desire for sweets

25-Mar-2019 - Researchers from the Institute of Chemistry and Metabolomics of the University of Lübeck discover a new mechanism allowing Noroviruses to switch off sugar binding. Key for these novel insights were NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) experiments. Development of vaccines as well as the search for ...

A new tool for detecting and destroying norovirus

10-Mar-2015 - Infection with highly contagious noroviruses, while not usually fatal, can lead to a slew of unpleasant symptoms such as excessive vomiting and diarrhea. Current treatment options are limited to rehydration of the patient. "Additionally, noroviruses come in a variety of constantly evolving ...

Pathogens in food: Progress and new challenges for zoonosis control

About 200 experts met at the BfR to discuss new scientific insights into how to prevent food-borne infections

29-Nov-2012 - In early summer 2011, EHEC in raw sprouts made headlines in Germany, followed by headlines about a norovirus found on frozen strawberries in autumn 2012. These two major outbreaks again alerted the public to the significance of illnesses transmitted via food. "Although we are observing a decrease ...

Norovirus is the leading cause of infection outbreaks in U.S. hospitals

02-Feb-2012 - Norovirus, a pathogen that often causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis, was responsible for 18.2 percent of all infection outbreaks and 65 percent of ward closures in U.S. hospitals during a two-year period, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control ...

Viruses must be controlled differently from bacteria

BfR Symposium on the foodborne transmission of viruses

17-Nov-2009 - The notifications of cases of disease caused by noroviruses and rotaviruses have steadily increased in recent years. These well-known viruses can be transmitted by infected individuals during the production and preparation to food and can spread in this way. At the first nationwide symposium in ...

Tobacco plants yield the first vaccine for the dreaded 'cruise ship virus'

20-Aug-2009 - Scientists have used a new vaccine production technology to develop a vaccine for norovirus. Sometimes called the "cruise ship virus," this microbe can spread like wildfire through passenger liners, schools, offices and military bases. The new vaccine is unique in its origin — it was ...