Molecular Virology and Immunology

The importance of viruses for the evolution of life is paramount. The pandemic caused by SARS-Cov-2 has underlined the impact viruses can have on all areas of human society. In this course we will discuss the principles that viruses employ to infect bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. We will discuss how viruses evolve and look at the main mechanisms of immune defense of hosts, including CRISPR-Cas, adaptive immunity and RNAi. We will discuss bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic viruses through a series of lectures, masterclasses, and a final poster presentation. We will invite leading virologists in the Netherlands for a masterclass to bring in cutting edge insights into virus biology.