In the 1980s, a remarkable number of young Americans exhibited symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Whatever could be the cause? Researchers quickly found an answer to this question. The feature these patients had in common was their excessive use of heroin. The resulting brain disorder was sparked by a by-product which is released when this hard drug is being synthesised.
High quality TB research demands for knowledge and experience. And this was exactly what BPRC scientists shared during an international TB conference in the Unites States.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious lung disease caused by bacteria. It spreads via tiny water droplets during coughing. In the Western World TB is usually treated with long term antibiotics. But antibiotic resistant TB bacteria are emerging fast.
Last Saturday we organized a familyday. Almost 200 family members and friends of colleagues took a look behind the scenes at BPRC.
During a morning and afternoon session we guided visitors in small groups around and showed them what we do at BPRC, how we do it and why.
In tv commercials they call it gut flora but scientists rather speak of the microbiome. In both cases they talk about the bacteria that resides in our intestines. We used a newly designed pill which was created with a 3D printer to determine the microbiome from monkeys and pigs.
Research into the most commonly occurring and difficult to treat strain of malaria, vivax malaria, is possible using the human form of the parasite only under extremely limited circumstances. While a closely related primate malaria parasite has thus far provided a solution to this problem, that system does require the use of primates. Hopefully, this is about to change.
Thanks to a global collaborative partnership which includes BPRC researchers, an effective system for culturing the blood-borne non-human primate malaria parasite has now been developed.
HIV no longer has to be a death sentence. Thanks to research in monkeys, we have drugs that inhibit the virus and prevent the development of AIDS.
Still, it remains important to prevent the spread of HIV within high-risk groups. That is why PrEP is now provided almost free of charge through the municipal health service.
BPRC reveals results of fifteen-year study
The best time to introduce new breeding males into a group of rhesus macaques is when the males are at the peak of their strength. Such introductions have the greatest chance of success in groups with many females, from a maximum of three different families. These are only two of the conclusions from a fifteen-year study conducted by behavioural experts at BPRC.
When you’re ill, you go to see a doctor. Sometimes the doctor needs to send your blood to a specialist laboratory. If you’re a sick monkey in a European zoo, then there’s a strong chance that the vet will send your blood to BPRC for analysis.
The Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), transmitted by mosquitos, is relatively unknown in Europe but it can still pose a serious danger to both humans and farm animals on our continent. The development of better and safer vaccines is urgently required to prevent outbreaks.
Other primates are a lot like us, including where their weight is concerned. One individual tends to be plump while the other remains slender. How does this work with primates? And what can we at BPRC do to reduce the incidence of overweight in the colony? These are the questions we are attempting to answer during a study of overweight among the macaques living at BPRC.
