Institut für Virologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Frankfurter Str. 107
35392 Giessen
Tel.: (+49) 641 / 99 - 38351
Viro.Sek@vetmed.uni-giessen.de
Navigation
Research
Main areas of work
- animal virology
- molecular biology
- cell biology
- immunology
Focus of research
The institute works primarily on RNA viruses of importance in veterinary medicine. Modern methods of virology, molecular biology and immunology are applied for virus characterisation, for diagnosis, for vaccine development and studies on pathogenesis. The systems used are pestiviruses (classical swine fever virus, bovine viral diarrhoea virus, border disease virus in sheep) and further representatives of the family Flaviviridae. Borna disease virus is studied as a model for persistent infection. Another working group studies Rabies virus, which represents still an important infectious agent for animals and humans.
Participation in postgraduate research and lectures
The institute plays a significant role in postgraduate research and lectures within the collaborative research centre »Invasion mechanisms and replication strategies of pathogens (SFB535)« which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
The following subjects are dealt with by single working groups:
- Working group Herzog - Borna disease virus
- Working group König/ Thiel - various projects with diagnostic relevance
- Working group Rümenapf - cellular receptors / structural proteins of pestiviruses
- Working group Thiel - feline coronaviruses/ virus-cell-interaction
