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News | 2016.03.02
Antibodies capable of eliminating HIV-infected cells
Researchers have recently shown that some effective antibodies recognize cells infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and trigger their destruction by the immune system. This discovery sheds new light on the mechanism of action of these specific antibodies, which are currently undergoing clinical trials.
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News | 2016.02.22
Discovery of a new biological mechanism for depression
Teams from Paris Descartes University, co-led by Professor Raphaël Gaillard (Sainte Anne Hospital, Institut Pasteur) and Professor Olivier Hermine (Necker Hospital, National Reference Center for Mastocytosis, Institut Imagine) have identified an inflammatory mechanism of depression through the study of a rare disease: mastocytosis.
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News | 2016.03.06
Obesity: an epigenetic track to fight against weight gain and hypercholesterolemia
The number of obesity cases has doubled since 1980: in 2014, over 600 million adults were affected across the world. The causes of this epidemic include unbalanced diet, as well as environmental and genetic factors. French researchers reveal that an epigenetic factor, the BAHD1 protein, participates in the regulatory mechanisms of cholesterol levels and weight gain. These results open new ways...
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News | 2016.03.06
Launch of the AFRIBIOTA research program: a new approach in the fight against child malnutrition
More than 30 Madagascan and international scientists and clinicians met from March 7 to 9, 2016 at the Institut Pasteur in Madagascar for the official launch of the AFRIBIOTA project, an ambitious multidisciplinary research program to improve our understanding of chronic child malnutrition. The long-term aim of this innovative program, which combines fundamental and clinical research –...
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News | 2016.03.15
Zika and microcephaly: first trimester of pregnancy most critical
A new analysis of data from the 2013-2014 Zika epidemic in French Polynesia by scientists from the Institut Pasteur, Paris, and their French Polynesian colleagues has confirmed the incidence of grouped cases of microcephaly and quantified the risk of microcephaly associated with the virus. Using innovative mathematical modeling techniques, their research shows that the risk of microcephaly is...
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News | 2016.03.20
A genomic study of epidemic dysentery: how Europe exported a scourge worldwide
Scientists at the Institut Pasteur and its International Network, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Cambridge, United Kingdom) and several international institutions have just published an exceptionally wide-ranging study tracing the history of the bacillus responsible for epidemic dysentery – one of the worst scourges to afflict humans throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. This vast...
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News | 2016.03.22
Lluis Quintana-Murci appointed as Scientific Director of the Institut Pasteur
On March 23, the Institut Pasteur announced that Lluis Quintana-Murci had been appointed as Scientific Director. This new position has been created in connection with the implementation of the general strategic plan adopted by the Institut Pasteur management. Lluis Quintana-Murci, a member of the Executive Board, will serve as the person of reference and coordinator for the Institut Pasteur's...
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News | 2016.04.10
Malaria: a new route of access to the heart of the parasite
Scientists have just identified an Achilles heel in the parasite that causes malaria, by showing that its optimum development is dependent on its ability to expropriate RNA molecules in infected cells – a host-pathogen interaction that had never previously been observed.
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News | 2016.04.24
How could Zika enter Europe?
Researchers at the Institut Pasteur have assessed the transmission potential of four populations of Aedes mosquitoes in circulation on the island of Madeira and southern France with a view to examining various possible scenarios for the introduction of Zika virus to Europe. Their work suggests that the Aedes aegypti mosquito present in Madeira is more likely to promote local transmission of Zika...
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News | 2016.05.11
Meningococcal disease: identification of a sexually transmitted variant
A study from the University of Würzburg (Germany) and the Institut Pasteur (France) elucidates the mechanisms of the emergence of an outbreak of meningococcal disease in men who have sex with men (MSM). These results are published in the open access journal PLOS ONE.
