Development of sensitive molecular viral assays to screen anti-SARS-CoV-2 formulations

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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has created an urgent need for new products to improve and maintain public health through the neutralisation and destruction of virus. Unilever is a world-leading company with a large portfolio of personal and homecare products and technologies with antiviral activity. New and innovative assays are urgently required to test the efficacy of new product formulations that deliver high sensitivity, high-throughput protocols requiring the use of non-infectious viral systems to avoid the need to work in Category 3 laboratories. This CASE PhD studentship will encompass the development and utilisation of state-of-the-art molecular assays to provide tools to assess the anti-viral activity of technologies and finished products, focussing on, but not limited, to SARS-CoV-2. The host laboratory at the University of Liverpool has extensive experience in utilising pseudo-typed viral systems for studying virus phenotypes. These will act as the basis in generating new and improved assays. Such approaches as utilising fluorescent labelled pseudo-typed virus in conjunction with innovative nucleic acid RNA/DNA detection and quantification techniques will be developed. The collaboration with Unilever will allow the assays to be developed further and for high throughput usage.