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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…

Young chicken looks at the camera side on.

30 November 2020

Pirbright scientists reveal more clues on how bird flu viruses evade vaccine immunity

A new study by researchers at The Pirbright Institute shows that avian influenza viruses can combine two techniques to evade vaccine immunity, aiding their spread in the field. Understanding the dynamics between these methods could allow researchers to develop better vaccines that prevent flu…

23 July 2020

Pirbright shows bird flu mutations could increase threat to poultry, but reduce potential to infect humans

Mutations in the H7N9 bird flu virus increase its replication rate and stability in avian cells, but reduce its preference for infecting human cells, a study from The Pirbright Institute has found. The results show that outbreaks in birds caused by strains with these mutations could pose a lower…

08 July 2020

Science Spotlight: Hassaan Bin Aslam

Hassaan Bin Aslam, a veterinarian and microbiologist from Pakistan, is a student at The Pirbright Institute and the Royal Veterinary College whose project explores the structure of the Pakistan chicken industry to provide information that will aid scientists and policy makers in preventing the…

23 June 2020

Studies at Pirbright demonstrate two doses of Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine boosts immune response in pigs

The Pirbright Institute, working in collaboration with the University of Oxford, have successfully shown that two doses of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine produce a greater antibody response than a single dose in pigs. The emergence and subsequent spread of SARS-CoV-2 has caused a global…

Merged cells following co-expression of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and human ACE2 receptors.

19 June 2020

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds development of Pirbright’s Livestock Antibody Hub supporting animal and human health

Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have been awarded US $5.5 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a Livestock Antibody Hub aimed at improving animal and human health globally. The ambitious programme of work will see extensive collaboration between multiple UK research…

Person in dark blue scrubs holding a small chick in their hands

28 October 2019

Protecting poultry from avian influenza

The flu season is upon us, but how much do you know about avian influenza? Do you know how to protect the birds you keep against infection? Find out the key facts about flu, why the disease is so hard to prevent, and what scientists at The Pirbright Institute are doing to understand more about avian…

30 August 2019

Pirbright scientists identify high risk poultry trading practices for flu in Vietnam

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have found that the transmission of avian influenza viruses in Vietnam is influenced by the structure of live poultry trading networks. Their work has identified the groups that are most likely to employ trade practices that impact the risk of infection in…

06 February 2019

Pirbright scientists identify how a single bird flu protein can increase period of infection

New research led by scientists at The Pirbright Institute has shown how an influenza virus protein, called PB1-F2, is able to shut down two pathways of the chicken immune response to increase the length of time the virus can be transmitted. The PB1-F2 protein of influenza viruses is an accessory…

Featured news

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

Nurturing emerging leaders in science

Latest news

Pirbright scientists reveal more clues on how bird flu viruses evade vaccine immunity

Pirbright shows bird flu mutations could increase threat to poultry, but reduce potential to infect humans

Science Spotlight: Hassaan Bin Aslam

Studies at Pirbright demonstrate two doses of Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine boosts immune response in pigs

SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to enter animal cells

Influenza antibodies made by Pirbright reduce disease in chickens

Scientists working on pig and poultry diseases visit Pirbright

Bird flu and Marek’s disease vaccine developed by Pirbright scientists

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds development of Pirbright’s Livestock Antibody Hub supporting animal and human health

Protecting poultry from avian influenza

Pirbright scientists identify high risk poultry trading practices for flu in Vietnam

Pirbright scientists identify how a single bird flu protein can increase period of infection