Rockefeller University experts in infectious disease, immunology, biochemistry, structural biology, and genetics have begun over a dozen projects in recent weeks aimed at better understanding the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the current global COVID-19 pandemic. The research, which involves 18 laboratories and over 130 scientists, has the goal of discovering or developing new, urgently needed approaches to prevent and treat the disease. Although most Rockefeller laboratories have ceased on-campus operations to reduce the spread of the illness, exceptions have been made for those researchers working on essential COVID-19-related projects. Because the development, scale-up, and deployment of a safe and effective vaccine for the virus are still well over the horizon, the researchers are focusing on parallel approaches to provide alternative means of prevention and therapy, attacking the problem from many angles. Projects include the development of antibodies and other protein therapeutics capable of preventing or treating the infection; development of small molecules that inhibit the activity of viral or human proteins that are required for viral replication; improved animal models for testing potential treatments; and identification of new vulnerabilities of the virus via both genomic studies of humans with unusual sensitivity or resistance to infection, and cell-based screens using CRISPR gene-editing technology. “These projects directly relate to pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19, as well as the basic biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself,” says Richard P. Lifton, MD, PhD, the university’s president.Login Or Register To Read Full Story