We are fascinated by RNA viruses and the immune responses against them. That’s why we study how both of them interact with each other. Although RNA viruses, such as HIV or SARS-CoV-2, frequently encode only a small number of genes, they are probably the most successful pathogens on this planet. Their success depends on a plethora of sophisticated mechanisms to evade or counteract the immune responses of their hosts. Since the number of viral proteins encoded by each virus is limited, most viral proteins mediate an astonishing number of different functions. Although may functions have been described in principle, most underlying biochemical mechanisms are not completely understood. In addition, we are convinced that more viral evasion mechanisms remain to be discovered. With our research, we thus aim to understand how viruses and their hosts co-evolve and to identify viral features that enable successful spread of viruses in the human population.
Interestingly, some RNA viruses even got fixed in our genomes. These endogenous retroviruses represent about 8% of our DNA. Thus, all of us are partly viral! The fact that these viral remnants have not been lost over millions of years of evolution suggests that they may somehow benefit our health or even help us fight viral infections today. With our research, we aim to find out whether this is really the case.
Sounds interesting? Just contact us!