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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

White chicken

14 February 2018

Poultry keepers need to be vigilant to combat the spread of bird flu in the UK

The recent H5N6 bird flu outbreak is confined to the south of England, partly due to the introduction of an Avian Influenza Protection Zone in England and Wales including strict biosecurity measures for affected bird keepers. But what is bird flu? Why is it such a threat? And what can we do to stop…

Cows in a field at Pirbright Compton site

02 February 2018

Pirbright helps demonstrate the UK remains free from bluetongue virus

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have played a key role in providing assurance that the UK remains free from bluetongue following the positive test results of four cattle which had moved from France into the north of England and Scotland in October 2017 without sufficient vaccination proof. BTV…

Flu graphic - inside the virus

31 January 2018

Pirbright to research how rapidly bird flu can adapt to infect humans

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute and Imperial College London have been awarded a grant by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to research what makes particular strains of bird flu more likely to adapt to mammalian hosts, and possibly initiate a pandemic. The…

map of Asia

23 January 2018

Pirbright research to tackle Asian viruses

The Pirbright Institute has been awarded over £1million by the BBSRC-Newton Fund to tackle four major viral diseases that threaten livestock populations across Asia. Pirbright scientists will study two poultry and two pig diseases that have a severe impact on the wellbeing of animals and contribute…

Marek's disease virus vaccine

22 January 2018

New vaccine technique targets multiple poultry diseases

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have created a new method of genetically modifying the Marek’s disease vaccine so that it is able to protect against another destructive poultry virus called infectious bursal disease (IBD), and potentially others such as avian influenza and Newcastle disease…

18 January 2018

Pirbright gains funding to tackle lumpy skin disease

The Pirbright Institute’s Dr Pip Beard has been awarded funding to study lumpy skin disease (LSD), a severe viral disease of cattle which is found throughout Africa and the Middle East. Little is known about the LSD virus, so the award will be used to answer fundamental questions about the…

Chickens and cockerel on grass

03 January 2018

New chicken immune cell increases susceptibility to Marek’s disease

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have identified a new type of immune cell in chickens that is involved in the development of Marek’s disease. Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is highly contagious and causes a deadly cancer of the lymph nodes (lymphoma) and immunosuppression in poultry, making birds…

CRISPR/Cas9 complex interacting with DNA

20 December 2017

Research funding for safe genes

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute will receive a subaward of $2.66million as part of a research team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in DARPA's Safe Genes programme. This programme aims to gain a fundamental understanding of how gene editing technologies function, address potential…

Foot-and-mouth disease virus capsid structure

12 December 2017

Protein shown vital for foot-and-mouth disease virus replication

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have shown that when drugs are used to inhibit the cellular protein, hsp90, foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) production is reduced. Hsp90 is a protein used by cells to fold other proteins correctly and it was shown to be required by FMDV to form the outer…

Pirbright team with UAR public engagement award

05 December 2017

Pirbright wins award for openness on animal research project

On Monday 4 December, The Pirbright Institute jointly won the Public Engagement category at the fourth annual Understanding Animal Research (UAR) Openness Awards for its contribution to the 360° Laboratory Animal Tours project. The Openness Awards mark the efforts of UK research facilities to be…

BRSV infected calf lung

28 November 2017

Pirbright collaboration shows immune system can worsen respiratory disease

Scientists from The Pirbright Institute, in collaboration with others, have found immune cells designed to help clear infections could actually be aggravating respiratory disease caused by bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV). The virus infects the lungs of cattle and is closely related to…

white chickens

23 November 2017

Marek’s disease vaccine research funded at Pirbright

The Pirbright Institute has recently been awarded joint funding with The Roslin Institute to research how the deadly Marek’s disease virus (MDV) causes tumours in poultry, and create a more effective vaccine. MDV is highly contagious and is a major threat to the poultry industry, with losses…