Würzburg, January 13, 2022 – On January 12, the Bavarian State Minister of Science, Bernd Sibler gained an overview of the current research on SARS-CoV-2 in Würzburg. The focus was on university medicine with its numerous interdisciplinary collaborations.
Jörg Vogel, Managing Director of the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and Director of the Institute for Molecular Infection Biology (IMIB) at Julius Maximilian University (JMU), provided information on latest scientific breakthroughs at his institute. According to Vogel, a HIRI research team led by Mathias Munschauer identified 18 relevant host proteins in human cells. They interact with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 during infection and may act as drug targets in the future.
Cynthia Sharma, Chair of Molecular Infection Biology II at IMIB, introduced a novel Covid testing method. The new CRISPR technology, developed together with HIRI scientist Chase Beisel, can detect a variety of disease-related biomarkers in just one test.
Researchers from JMU Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital Würzburg (UKW) shared further projects. Oliver Kurzai presented a study on the implementation of Covid tests in daycare centers. Ildikó Gágyor will address the Long Covid Syndrome in a future research project. Peter Heuschmann provided information about the Network of University Medicine. It aims to enhance the coordination of Covid research at Germany's 36 university hospitals.
