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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

Antibody

20 November 2017

Position and function of goat antibody genes identified at Pirbright

The Immunogenetics Group at The Pirbright Institute has identified the position and function of specific genes in the goat’s genetic code that are responsible for antibody production. Up until now, identifying and characterising the genes related to the immune system of animals, including humans…

BBSRC National Vaccinology Centre: The Jenner Building

16 November 2017

BBSRC National Vaccinology Centre at Pirbright scoops top design award

A brand new laboratory at The Pirbright Institute, opened earlier this year by HRH The Princess Royal, has scooped a prestigious design award at the Guildford Design Awards 2017. The awards, which take place every two years, were established in 1987 to celebrate well-designed, innovative…

30 October 2017

Pirbright supports eradication campaign of livestock virus

In the last 15 years there has been a concerning increase in the spread of the livestock viral disease, peste des petits ruminants (PPR), which costs $1.45-$2.1 billion (USD) in losses annually. Recently, Pirbright scientists have put forward their expertise to support the Food and Agricultural…

12 October 2017

Genetically altered African swine fever virus shows promise as a vaccine

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have found that deleting a gene of the African swine fever virus (ASFV), a severe and often fatal disease of pigs, reduces its ability to cause infection and protects against a strain of the virus that causes severe disease. In the study, published in the…

Female in lab

06 October 2017

Pirbright retains Athena SWAN Bronze award

The Pirbright Institute has retained the Bronze award from the Equality Challenge Unit’s (ECU) Athena SWAN Charter for its commitment to gender equality. The Institute has undergone significant changes in leadership and structure since it first attained a Bronze award in 2014. It was for this reason…

20 September 2017

“Superb start” to new conference on animal genetics in controlling disease

A conference showcasing the exciting potential of genetics as a tool for disease control is taking place in Cambridge this week - the first event of its kind to be held in the UK. Jointly organised by scientists from The Pirbright Institute, The Roslin Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden, the…

Pirbright hosts avian disease research symposium

Scientists from across the UK and China gathered in Surrey today at the UK-China CERAD symposium (Centre of Excellence for Research on Avian Diseases) – the first such event to be held in the UK. Organised by The Pirbright Institute, ‘Recent Advances in Avian Disease Research’ is taking place from…

African swine fever advance through Europe

The continued advance of African swine fever (ASF) through Eastern European countries has triggered concern amongst pig farmers and governing bodies. Defra has upgraded the threat to the UK from ‘very low’ to ‘low’ – meaning the risk is “rare but could occur” (EFSA terminology). This severe disease…

Pirbright awarded £2,359,553 grant for vaccine work on Nipah virus

A £2,359,553 grant has been awarded by Innovate UK to The Pirbright Institute’s Dr Simon Graham to lead an international team developing an inexpensive, safe and effective vaccine to protect pigs against Nipah virus (NiV). The grant will allow scientists from Pirbright and partners in the UK…

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…

NC3Rs grant to reduce the number of chickens used in research

A grant has been awarded to Dr Andrew Broadbent at The Pirbright Institute, which will fund the development of laboratory techniques for studying poultry viral diseases without the need to infect live birds. The new research, funded by the National Centre for the Replacement Refinement and Reduction…

Pirbright scientists help define sheeppox costs to Mongolia

Dr Pip Beard and Dr Nick Lyons from The Pirbright Institute recently attended a workshop in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, which focused on the economic impact of sheeppox, a severe viral disease of sheep caused by infection with sheeppox virus. The virus causes classic “pox” lesions to occur on the skin…