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Pirbight's Plowright building from afar with wild plants in front

15 November 2024

Pirbright welcomes two successful Doctoral Landscape Awards in life and environmental sciences

The Pirbright Institute is celebrating two major doctoral training initiatives funded by the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), each offering unique opportunities for the next generation of scientists. These programmes…

Close up of a pipette tip in a well of gel electrophoresis. Blue liquid is visible in the wells.

14 November 2024

Nurturing emerging leaders in science

Two talented Pirbright researchers have been awarded with Strategic Career Development Awards (SCDAs) to advance their research and career trajectories. Dr Rory Fortes de Brito, a Senior Postdoctoral researcher in the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Immunology group and Dr Lidia…

Latest news

foot-and-mouth disease spread from the indian subcontinent reconstructed through genetic analysis

03 October 2018

Pirbright collaboration maps foot-and-mouth disease escape from Indian subcontinent

Scientists from The Pirbright Institute have used state-of-the-art approaches to monitor foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks that have recently radiated out from the Indian subcontinent. The seven different types of FMD virus (called serotypes) can be split further into lineages which normally…

white mouse in tube with red eyes

26 September 2018

Engineering ‘Fab’ new ways of reducing animal use in foot-and-mouth disease diagnostics

A novel foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) diagnostic reagent has been developed by scientists at The Pirbright Institute. This has the potential to be used in FMD diagnostic tests, and will be significantly quicker to produce when compared to existing test reagents due to a simplified production…

foot-and-mouth disease virus pink blue grey

20 September 2018

Pirbright switches it up: creating foot-and-mouth disease hybrids for better vaccines

In collaborative research led by The Pirbright Institute, scientists have generated a ‘hybrid’ foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) with improved stability, which will increase its effectiveness when administered as a vaccine. They targeted the Southern African Territories (SAT) 2 serotype viruses…

cow at Compton site Pirbright

Milk from bulk storage tanks could be used for foot-and-mouth disease testing

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on Plum Island USA, have shown it could be possible to detect foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in pooled milk samples stored in bulk tanks. These…

cows in tanzania with Masai tribe

Rural poverty in eastern Africa could be reduced with foot-and-mouth disease vaccination strategy

Research undertaken by scientists at The Pirbright Institute and the University of Glasgow has shown that a targeted vaccination programme against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) could contribute to alleviating poverty in eastern Africa. Livestock production losses due to FMD are estimated to be around…

African domestic cows in Tanzania

Pirbright identifies two new genetic groups of foot-and-mouth disease virus

Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have examined the genetic material of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) samples collected from eastern and southern Africa, and discovered two novel virus groups. These new groups, termed genotypes, will help scientists to understand the genetic variability…

Field test first to type FMD outside of the lab

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have successfully validated two new portable tests for the diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). One test confirms the presence of FMD virus (FMDV), and the other is the first portable test able to differentiate between the four FMD types prevalent in…

Veronica and Daisy’s Soapbox Science success!

Dr Veronica Fowler’s presentation for Soapbox Science 2016 proved a hit with the crowds on London’s Southbank with help from her PhD students - and Daisy the cow! Dozens of fascinated people gathered round Veronica’s Soapbox during the event and some brave volunteers donned biosecurity gear so they…

International partnership to develop FMD detection kits

The Pirbright Institute has signed an international partnership agreement with IZSLER, the leading Italian animal disease research body, to jointly produce cutting edge diagnostic kits for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The new kits have been evaluated for excellent reliability and sensitivity, and…