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

SARS-CoV-2大流行产生了对新产品的迫切需求，以通过中和和摧毁病毒来改善和维持公共卫生。联合利华是一家世界领先的公司，拥有大量具有抗病毒活性的个人和家庭护理产品和技术组合。迫切需要新的和创新的分析方法来测试新产品配方的有效性，这些新产品配方提供高灵敏度、高通量的方案，需要使用非传染性病毒系统，以避免需要在第3类实验室工作。这一案例博士研究生将包括最先进的分子分析的开发和利用，以提供工具来评估技术和成品的抗病毒活性，重点但不限于SARS-CoV-2。利物浦大学的主办实验室在利用伪型病毒系统研究病毒表型方面拥有丰富的经验。这些将作为产生新的和改进的分析的基础。将开发利用荧光标记的伪型病毒与创新的核酸RNA/DNA检测和量化技术相结合的方法。与联合利华的合作将使检测方法得到进一步发展，并实现高通量使用。

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.