https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/3f010f7e-4eb1-11ea-9208-0242ac110002/?jwsource=cl
Dan Spector breaks a major story in Global News about Virologist Levon Abrahamyan's work with pig coronaviruses and his attempt to develop treatments and a pan-coronavirus vaccine for COVID-19
A University of Montreal researcher is doing his part to battle the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak from right here in Quebec.
Virologist Levon Abrahamyan has been studying viruses for decades, and on Thursday, he showed Global News a freezer full of samples of other strains of coronavirus, kept at – 80 C.
“We’re working on a porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, which is a coronavirus,” he explained, saying it’s over 90 per cent similar to the COVID-19 coronavirus the whole world is talking about.
“My goal is to find out how the virus enters to the cell, how it replicates, and how it transmits to a new cell,” said Abrahamyan.
He believes the work he does on animals in Saint-Hyacinthe could help find treatments for the coronavirus spreading between humans.
“It is possible to find out a vaccine or anti-viral treatment which could be a pan-coronoviral treatment,” the scientist explained.
Video:
Source:
Levon Abrahamyan
Virology, Genetics
- Professeur adjoint
-
Faculté de médecine vétérinaire - Département de pathologie et microbiologie
Faculté de médecine vétérinaire - Département de pathologie et microbiologie
Research expertise
The long-term goal of my research program is to better understand molecular mechanisms of interactions between animal viruses and their hosts in order to develop new strategies for effective control of viral infections. In my laboratory, we study molecular mechanisms of virus-host interactions of different viruses: the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV, a coronavirus), the Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV, a parvovirus), the porcine influenza virus, various arboviruses (Zika, dengue, etc.). Additionally, we are interested in studying viral pathogens that infect the honeybees (virome studies). Host-virus interactions are highly dynamic and may involve multiprotein complexes. My group is using cutting-edge molecular biology, microscopy, proteomics, classical and molecular virology approaches to decipher the interplay of the key molecular factors of the virus infection that contribute to the unique pathogenesis of the animal viruses that are important for human and animal health. I believe that science popularization plays an important role in enhancing public service, promotes scientific literacy and awareness of global health.
