-
Document de presse | 2005.05.11
Fifth Human Retrovirus Discovered at Institut Pasteur
After HTLV-1, the first human retrovirus isolated in 1980 in the United States, then HTLV-2, discovered in 1982, and finally HIV-1 and HIV-2, which cause AIDS, isolated at Institut Pasteur in 1983 and 1985, a fifth human retrovirus, HTLV-3, has just been discovered by researchers at Institut Pasteur. Its simian equivalent had been known for about ten years, and researchers were looking for this...
-
Document de presse | 2005.02.24
"The Sword and the Shield" - How bacteria develop their virulence by creating multiple variants
Researchers at Institut Pasteur and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), in association with the Imperial College of London, recently explained why Shigella flexneri bacteria, which cause fatal dysenteries, have several variants (serotypes), thus optimizing their virulence. This discovery, published in Science, is essential to vaccine research as, in order to be...
-
Document de presse | 2005.01.05
A candidate Vaccine for West Nile Virus
Researchers at Institut Pasteur recently proved the efficacy of a candidate vaccine against West Nile virus infection in animal model. Their results are published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Mosquito-borne West Nile virus is an emerging neurotropic pathogen which is particularly disquieting due to its recent emergence in North America : since 2002, more than 13,000 cases, including 500...
-
Document de presse | 2004.09.19
New possibilities for fighting the plague
The plague, one of the most dangerous bacterial diseases for man, is currently reemerging in the world. Comparative genome work coordinated by researchers at Institut Pasteur and at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US, has shed light on the genetic bases that accompanied the emergence of the extremely virulent plague bacillus from a much less pathogenic ancestor, less than 20,000...
-
Document de presse | 2004.05.24
Stem Cells to Repair the Liver: Progress with animal models
Hepatic insufficiency, cirrhosis, liver cancer, etc.: damage to the liver is varied and in serious cases the only alternative is to transplant a healthy organ. However, the lack of available organs limits this practice: in France in 2002, 882 liver transplants were carried out for 1,509 transplant candidates.* Hope for the future is directed towards being able to transplant stem cells capable of...
-
Document de presse | 2004.03.14
A new step towards using neural stem celles to repair the brain
A team from the Institut Pasteur associated with the CNRS has just identified a key molecule in the brain capable of attracting new neurons and guiding them towards areas that they could repair. This discovery, previewed on the site Nature Neuroscience (http://www.nature.com/neuro/), brings to the fore a molecule essential for the organization of neuronal circuits in adults. This introduces...
-
Document de presse | 2004.02.19
Institut Pasteur/ Inserm : Joint research on the Nipah virus
Two teams from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm, in co-operation with Malaysian researchers, have recently successfully tested a candidate vaccine against the Nipah Virus. This virus, still undiscovered in 1998, was responsible for the deaths of 105 people in Malaysia in 1999. It is expanding at an alarming speed in South-East Asia. Currently there is no treatment in the fight against this...
-
Document de presse | 2004.01.19
A major advance in combatting Buruli ulcer
An international group of scientists coordinated by Stewart Cole of the Institut Pasteur has just discovered the genetic basis for the synthesis of the Mycobacterium ulcerans toxin, responsible for Buruli ulcer. Press release Paris, january 20, 2004 A rapidly-expanding emerging disease, Buruli ulcer is the one of the most common mycobacterial infections after...
-
Document de presse | 2013.07.04
Transmissibility of new coronavirus too low to trigger global epidemic at this stage
In a study published online on July 5, 2013 for the medical journal The Lancet, a team from the Institut Pasteur suggests that the coronavirus MERS-CoV, in its current form, is not capable of triggering a global epidemic. However, it should not be assumed that the virus’ transmissibility will not increase if the virus mutates or if transmission occurs at a one-off event where large numbers...
-
Document de presse | 2013.08.01
Dengue: identifying mosquito genetic factors that control virus transmission
Dengue is currently the most common insect-borne viral disease of humans worldwide. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) have discovered several genetic factors controlling the transmission of various dengue virus strains in a natural population of mosquitoes in...