The first step is towards developing a vaccine against the new coronavirus (COVID-19), as well as many other research and projects, has been taken at the incredible Dr Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of April, 2020, at the Dr Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases, which has been the topic of a lot of discussion since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have managed to successfully isolate the COVID-19 virus, that is, they managed to grow the virus under laboratory conditions. Otherwise, this is the first step towards the development of a vaccine against the virus, and for Croatian experts, it provides a much needed spring in their step when it comes to further scientific research into COVID-19.
What they have succeeded in doing in the rest of the world – can also be done right here in the Republic of Croatia. The successful isolation of the new coronavirus has taken place, as RTL reports.
“We have grown the virus under laboratory conditions from a patient swab that tested positive for SARS-COV-2,” said a biologist at Zagreb’s Dr. Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Zeljka Macak Safranko.
“First of all, this is a matter of sequencing the whole viral genome [of the new coronavirus], seeing what the nucleotide sequence is like, seeing the differences it has when compared to some other strains, and getting better acquainted with some of its general characteristics. As it grows in the culture, we’ll see if it’s faster, slower, and we’ll get to see just how much it multiplies,” explained Ivan Christian Kurolt, a biologist at the Dr. Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases.
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