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An international research team of the Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), led by the Department of Biotechnology of the TU Braunschweig, has reported on the development of special antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the journal Nature Communications. These antibodies prevent the viruses from entering host cells and were isolated from an antibody gene library that had already been produced from immune cells of healthy donors before the pandemic. The study shows how, in the future, active substances to previously unknown, emerging viruses can be produced very quickly without patient material.

The CoVerage tool analyses the lineage dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 strains, i.e. determines how successfully which virus strain spreads. The web resource uses input from the Gisaid genome database. Gisaid is an international initiative that aims to make research data rapidly available to the public. Scientists from all over the world contribute genome sequences of viruses such as H1N1, influenza or SARS-CoV-2 to the database, thus providing a broad overview of mutations and their genetic differences. However, to predict the spread potential of these mutations, a simple count of incidences is not sufficient.

The NoCovid group’s scientists, including HZI researchers Prof Melanie Brinkmann and Prof Michael Meyer-Hermann, have called for extensive testing, faster contact tracing, and a rapid rollout of vaccinations in Germany, arguing that only then will it be possible to open up the economy again. Any reopening in the immediate future threatens to quickly undo the hard-won successes of recent weeks, the group writes in a new paper. This means testing must become a part of everyday life. “If we want the economy to recover, any reopening has to be backed by an effective testing strategy and must not be permitted to lead to a resurgence of infections,” says Clemens Fuest, ifo President and a member of the group.

As part of the adaptive immune system, T cells are involved in the defence against pathogens. However, if they recognise healthy, self-structures instead of invading pathogens, autoimmune diseases can result. It is still insufficiently understood which factors are responsible for the dysregulation of the T cells. A new EU-funded programme for young researchers, coordinated by Prof. Jochen Hühn at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, aims to study tissue-resident T cells in more detail. Within the framework of the training network, 15 doctoral students will be trained at academic and non-academic institutions in ten European countries.

A group of scientists are calling for a pan-European coronavirus action plan. Given the high numbers of cases and the new variants, they say, greater efforts to contain the virus are required across the whole continent. Case numbers must be reduced as quickly as possible, as this has strong advantages for society and economy. According to the paper published in the British medical journal The Lancet, the joint action of all European countries will make each national and local effort more effective.