Our Body

Trypanosomes are parasites that infect a wide range of hosts, most notably livestock in sub-Saharan Africa. Infected livestock develop a wasting disease known as Nagana, and thereby no longer provide any productive benefit to African agriculture. The animals remain unhealthy for many months prior to succumbing to the infection, leading to animal welfare issues, extended financial burdens on farm owners, and a strongly negative ecological footprint. We aim to use genetics to generate trypanosome resistant livestock through the use of a protective gene that we have isolated from baboons.

Chronic infections with Hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) affect over 300 million people worldwide and are often associated with severe liver disease causing more than a million deaths each year. The talk will give a brief overview on HBV and HCV from their identification to recent advances and challenges in prevention and cure of infections. I will further give some insights into the major research questions we are currently addressing concerning the replication strategy of HCV and why it is so fascinating to work on viruses.