Virology and Immunology

Drug Discovery and Development (r-DNA Technology)

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Clinically approved antivirals are currently only available for 10 of the more than 220 viruses known to infect humans. The outbreak of SARSCoV2 highlighted the urgent need for compounds that could be rapidly mobilized to treat recurrent or new viral diseases during vaccine development. It reviews the current state of antiviral therapy with a focus on RNA viruses, highlights strategies for the discovery of antiviral drugs, and discusses challenges, solutions, and options for accelerating drug discovery. The development of antiviral therapies requires a basic understanding of the chemical biology of the virus, especially its interaction with host cells. As essential parasites, all viruses rely on the cellular processes of the host cell and therefore share key characteristics of the infectious life cycle. This overview focuses on EBOV and SARSCoV2. These are single-strand RNA viruses that have negative (-) and positive (+) meanings, respectively.

Related associations and societies

Canadian Society for Virology, German Society for Virology, Italian Society for Virology, Spanish Society for Virology, American Society for Virology, Australasian Virology Society, Max Planck Society, Brazilian Society for Virology, Swedish Society for Virology, Viruses: National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Infectious Diseases Society of America.