Europe supercharges research in the battle against COVID-19

In this episode of Futuris the team examine what Europe is doing to boost funding for research and innovation in the fight against COVID-19.

At the University of Copenhagen researchers are working on a candidate vaccine with what is known as “recombinant technology”. It involves cloning Coronavirus genes to identify and isolate proteins in order to understand how they bind to human cell receptors.

“The idea is to generate antibodies that hinder the virus penetrating into human cells. Right now we are testing prototype vaccines in mice. Those serums will be sent to Holland, where we will test the antibodies. The timelines are very aggressive in this project,” says Morten Acertoug Nielsen, Associate Professor of Immunology and Microbiology, at the University of Copenhagen.

The European funded project is just one of many currently underway in Europe in the fight against the coronavirus.