The research group in Nutrigenomics at the University of the Balearic Islands and the Biotechnology area at Eurecat are undertakign joint initiatives in the field of research into ferrets to study respiratory diseases
The University of the Balearic Islands and the Eurecat Technology Centre in Catalonia have signed a collaboration agreement so that the research group in Nutrigenomics at the UIB and the Biotechnology area at Eurecat can move forward on joint research initiatives into ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) and related fields, mainly focusing on respiratory and viral diseases.
The collaboration aims for the researchers at the UIB and Eurecat, as well as other research groups and companies around the world, to be able to undertake high-value scientific research into ferrets that could contribute to speeding up the race for vaccines and drugs to fight viruses that cause infectious respiratory diseases, such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.
The UIB Nutrigenomics Group to coordinate the studies
The studies will be coordinated by the research group in Nutrigenomics at the UIB with Dr Andreu Palou, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, as lead researcher. The Nutrigenomics group at the UIB has developed and tested a ferret DNA chip for transcriptomics studies, enabling biochemical mechanisms related to infection by different types of viruses to be studied, such as the effectiveness of possible vaccines for infectious respiratory diseases and the response to drug treatments.
This is particularly important since several respiratory structures in ferrets are very similar to those in humans, meaning they are one of the best model animals for studying different respiratory diseases in humans, likely including the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2. The licence for this technology has been transferred by the UIB to Agilent Technologies, Inc. (California, USA), a leading firm in science and technology equipment and services, and is already available for use by research groups around the world focused on producing vaccines against animal and human viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, responsible for COVID-19.
'Omics' technology from the Eurecat Biotechnology area
In turn, the Biotechnology area at Eurecat, led by Dr Antoni Caimari, has wide experience in searching for health, diagnosis and prognosis biomarkers using a wide range of omics sciences and analysing and integrating data obtained via these techniques (systems biology) to uncover the biochemical mechanisms involved in the action of drugs or vaccines. In this sense, the area includes the Centre for Omics Sciences (COS), a joint unit with the Rovira i Virgili University, which is equipped with the most advanced technology in metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and genomics. The COS is also part of the OmicsTech (www.omicstech.es) Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) specialising in the application of omics methodologies.
The use of these technologies may be highly effective to precisely discover the metabolic pathways in the body that are altered by viral infections that cause respiratory diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, as well as to carefully understand the body's response to a drug or potential vaccine against this or a similar virus.
Event date: 15/06/2020
Publication date: Mon Jun 15 10:00:00 CEST 2020
