Join Us for Science at the Bar! 🍻

Speaker: Robert de Vries
Position: Associate Professor, Chemical Biology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Science, Utrecht University

🎤 ABSTRACT:

Seasonal influenza viruses continuously evolve to evade our immune system, necessitating regular updates to flu vaccines. A significant challenge arises from the evolving H3N2 strain, which has changed so drastically that it no longer performs reliably in standard lab tests used for vaccine development.

These viruses have lost the ability to bind to turkey red blood cells, a staple in flu surveillance, complicating the tracking of viral evolution and efficient vaccine selection.

We discovered that modern H3N2 viruses now favor specialized sugar molecules called glycans, which are abundant in human airways but absent from standard lab tests. To tackle this issue, we innovated a “glycan remodeling” technique to biochemically redesign red blood cells, equipping them with human-like receptors. This modification allows contemporary influenza viruses to interact with these cells, thereby restoring a well-known, WHO-approved test used globally to assess vaccine effectiveness.

This research not only sheds light on how influenza viruses adapt to humans but also presents a viable solution to enhance global flu surveillance and advance vaccine design.

📍 Location: 台灣110501台北市信義區信義路四段456號
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