Select your language
Select your language
Press release of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research from January, 13, 2023
Madagascar is home to a unique biodiversity with a large number of endemic species, among those many lemur species, including the mouse lemurs. This diversity is also found in their retroviruses, a team led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the University of Stirling reports in the journal “Virus Evolution”. They analysed the mouse lemur genome and identified viruses of two classes that represent ancient infections of the mouse lemur germline. The viruses now behave similarly to lemur genes and are thus called endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). It was surprising that some of the identified retroviruses are closely related to viruses found in other, very different mammals such as polar bears or domestic sheep. This suggests an intriguing and complex pattern of host switching of retroviruses, much more complex than previously thought.
On Jan. 24, 2023, a panel discussion on "The spread of antibiotic-resistant germs as a global crisis" took place at the Hessian State Representation in Brussels, to which Prof. Ulrich Schaible, spokesman of the Leibniz Research Network (LRA) INFECTIONS, was invited. The event was livestreamed and is now available to all interested viewers in the aftermath.
Press release of the Leibniz Center Infection from January, 20, 2023-- translated from German
International Symposium of the Leibniz Center Infection
Hamburg. The multiple strategies of infectious pathogens to survive and multiply in the host and how we might use these sophisticated strategies to better fight the pathogens are the focus of this year's symposium "Compartments in Infection" of the Leibniz Center Infection (LCI). On January 26 and 27, 2023, international researchers will gather at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine to discuss this topic.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) claimed 5 million lives in 2019, posing a major challenge to global public health. National action plans (NAPs) are the primary method for guiding national strategies and actions to combat AMR. Although several NAPs have been developed, there is no comprehensive content analysis of these plans. A team of different researchers, including 3 members of our alliance, conducted a systematic assessment of NAP implementation in 114 countries.
The multidrug-resistant opportunist Stenotrophomonas maltophilia plays a central role in one of our projects: it is part of mixed biofilms in which the interactions between pulmonary opportunists and emerging antimicrobial resistance are studied (IPT2, further description HERE). At the highly respected American Society for Microbiology (ASM) conference "ASM Microbe 2022" held in June, there was intense discussion about this pathogen, which is increasingly developing resistance to conventional drugs. The video recorded live in Washington DC is available HERE .