10:00am-4:00pm on Saturday 23 March
Times shown are in GMT (UTC +0) up to the 26th March. For events on or after 27th March times are in BST (UTC +1).
Department of Pathology, Tennis Court Road, CB2 1QP
Viruses are very small. They are made up of an outer shell of protein that carries the virus’s DNA or RNA – the genetic code containing the instructions for making new copies of the virus. Some viruses have an extra layer around their protein shell, but that’s about it.
Despite being so simple, many different types of viruses can cause diseases, such as the common cold, chickenpox, COVID-19 and AIDS.
In the Department of Pathology’s virology laboratory, we are trying to answer these questions about viruses:
• How can virus RNA molecules multitask?
• How is virus RNA packaged into virion particles?
• Why do viruses infect particular hosts and tissues?
As well as showing you how our researchers address these questions in the lab, we will provide some hands-on activities. These will include building virus models from paper and other materials, so that you can learn how different viruses acquire their shapes and form spikes.
#Family Weekend #Harnessing the immune system to fight disease
