👏 Congrats to the 26 scholarship recipients at our Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity conference this week — made possible by our generous donors: 🌟 @gatesfoundation.bsky.social 🌟 @bwfund.bsky.social 🌟 @clevelandclinic.bsky.social 🌟 @volkswagenstiftung.de

In-person is sold out for Viral Pathogenesis & Immunity. Livestream access is still open. Join leading scientists sharing the latest in viral immunity, host–virus biology, and vaccines. June 15–18, 2026. From your lab or office: keysym.us/KSViral26. #KSViral26 @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social

"Beyond hepatitis D virus: the discovery of animal deltaviruses, their diversity, helpers and their position in an expanding world of circular RNA replicons " , enjoy a fresh review coming out from our lab (Zoé Denis, an amazing PhD student as first author) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Last week, the EPL team participated in the NRP79 3R Fair in Fribourg, an exchange platform on 3R principles in animal research. The team presented their work on the political & ethical analysis of the animal testing debate and engaged in rich exchanges on future directions. tinyurl.com/ycfkp6tz

Preprint by the Leidel, Thiel & Pillai labs with co-1st authors R. Pandey & N. Ebert "Loss of host factor-mediated m6Am methylation of the viral RNA cap impairs SARS CoV-2 replication" @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social doi.org/10.64898/202... @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social @mcm5s2u.bsky.social @unibe.ch

Very excited to share the first announcement of our international VISION symposium on integrated structural virology! Looking forward to see many of you in Hamburg!

🚨 Save $250 on registration! 🚨 Register by April 16 (11:59 PM MST) Join Viral Pathogenesis & Immunity this June in Hannover, Germany 🇩🇪 🧬 Host–virus interactions 🦠 Emerging pathogens 💉 Vaccine innovation 🎥 youtu.be/DuwcwCJNv50 📝 keysym.us/KSViral26 #KSViral26 @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social

KSQA: Dr. Michaela Gack (Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity)

YouTube video by KeystoneSymposia

youtu.be

🌍🩺On today’s #WorldHealthDay: Five years after COVID, the origin of the virus still remains inconclusive🦠 As a member of a WHO expert panel, Kathrin Summermatter #unibern helped to scientifically assess the current state of knowledge: 🔗 sohub.io/iepd

Our documentary movie #Blame comes to German cinemas in 10 days. If you want to see some of the unique footage, @3sat.zdf.social.ap.brid.gy Nano has some nice material for their reportage. Check out these 3 clips (I added EN translations) 1/

Philipp Markolin@philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 4mo ago

Unser Dokumentarfilm #Blame kommt am 16. April in deutsche Kinos. Er erzählt die Geschichte des Ursprungs der Pandemie, und die Kontroverse darum; bild- und tongewaltig, mit einzigartigem Zugang zu Wissenschaftlern die zu unrecht beschuldigt wurden. Eine Verteidigung der Wissenschaft & Vernunft.

🌍🩺Zum heutigen Weltgesundheitstag: 5 Jahre nach Covid ist der Ursprung des Virus weiterhin nicht abschliessend geklärt. 🦠 Als Teil eines WHO-Expertengremiums hat Kathrin Summermatter #unibern dazu beigetragen den aktuellen Wissensstand wissenschaftlich einzuordnen: 🔗 sohub.io/fdt2 #WorldHealthDay

🎉 Happy 5th Birthday to the MCID! 🎂 On 18 Jan 2026, the Center celebrated five years since its launch 🚀 To mark the milestone, we prepared a special anniversary edition of The SPREAD, reflecting on achievements and looking ahead to the future. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey!

Read this issue or previous issues on our webpage 👉 tinyurl.com/5n893pne #MCIDresearch #TheSPREAD #Anniversary @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social @labfaso.bsky.social @bereadycohort.bsky.social @ispm.unibe.ch @izb-unibern.bsky.social @medfacultyunibe.bsky.social @unibe.ch

With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268

🌟 Excited to welcome our new MCID PhD cohort! 🌟 Last week we met for coffee&cookies at MCID HQ as our incoming students kick off their PhD journey with us. They’ll join the newly funded projects that recently began, and we can’t wait to see the innovative work and impact they’ll bring.

Afterwards a panel discussion was moderated by Caroline Schlaufer featuring film director Christian Frei, biosafety expert Kathrin Summermatter & virologist @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social. The audience posed great questions on funding, biosafety & media polarisation.

On 11th Feb, the MCID, Swiss Biorisk Alliance & Institute of Infectious Disease hosted a full-house preview of Blame, the new documentary by Christian Frei. The film, centred on COVID-19, explores virology, public trust & political discourse. 👉 www.blame-documentary.com

⏰ Deadline Feb. 11 (11:59 PM MST)! Submit scholarship applications and/or short talk abstracts for Viral Pathogenesis & Immunity in Hannover, Germany. 🎥 Organizer Michaela Gack: youtu.be/DuwcwCJNv50 🔗 Apply: keysym.us/KSViral26 @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social #KSViral26 #Virology #ViralImmunity

KSQA: Dr. Michaela Gack (Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity)

YouTube video by KeystoneSymposia

youtu.be

Our panel (Theres Luethi, Alinna Zumbrunn, @philippmarkolin.bsky.social, Tobias Rohrbach) sparked great discussion on science communication in a polarised world. Expertly chaired by MCID’s Carmen @labfaso.bsky.social and @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social .

Great energy at the MCID Annual Event 2025 last Friday, despite the season’s first snowfall❄️, almost 100 participants joined us. We kicked off with keynotes on vector-borne disease surveillance and heard rapid-fire talks on respiratory viruses, TBE, AMR, and COVID-19–related research.

Congrats to MCID members Georgia Salanti and @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social who are named among this year’s Highly Cited Researchers! Their work ranks in the top 1% by citations, highlighting sustained excellence and wide-ranging impact. @ispm.unibe.ch @medfacultyunibe.bsky.social @unibe.ch

2️⃣ Naah, MHV plays stress granules like a pro: show up late, strip out the translation machinery, keep your RNA away, and let these 'empty shells' persist while you replicate freely. Moh covers a #preprint from @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social & team #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/s...

Stress granules formed during different RNA virus infections show remarkable plasticity and substantial virus-specific differences in their formation and composition - preLights

Naah, MHV plays stress granules like a pro: show up late, strip out the translation machinery, keep your RNA away, and let these 'empty shells' persist while you replicate freely.

prelights.biologists.com

Stammt #Covid aus einem chinesischen Labor oder entstand das Coronavirus durch natürliche Übertragung vom Tier auf den Menschen? In den USA glauben zwei Drittel der Leute, dass Covid aus dem Labor kam. In Europa dürfte es ähnlich sein. Kein Wunder: Die Medien ... www.bazonline.ch/covid-warum-...

Eine dunkle Vermutung über Corona grassiert – und ist so ansteckend wie das Virus

Zunehmend berichten auch seriöse Medien über die sogenannte Laborthese. Demnach wurde der Erreger künstlich hergestellt. Was ist an der These dran?

bazonline.ch

It has always only been a matter of time.... @mcid-unibe.bsky.social @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social @unibe.ch Mosquito-borne viruses surge in a warming Europe | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Mosquito-borne viruses surge in a warming Europe

Chikungunya cases break records in France; West Nile virus appears near Rome

science.org

🌙🔬 Our “RNA – Master of Versatility” booth at Nacht der Forschung 2025 was a hit! Big thanks to our Science Knights and amazing organizers. 💙🙌 Read more: nccr-rna-and-disease.ch/news/article... #ndfunibern @unibe.ch

✨ We are proud to have taken part again in the Nacht der Forschung @unibe.ch ✨ 🔬 Highlights included a focus on MCID-funded research, interactive pathogen posters as well as “make your own pathogen” & the legendary Splat the Bacteria 🦠💥 Great to be sparking curiosity & connecting with the public ❤️

Many thanks to our team of volunteers, the @bereadycohort.bsky.social, the Ethics and Policy team and our VR Pandemic Control Centre. Your contributions and hard work made it a really fun and worthwhile event! #ndfunibern

🔬✨ Join us this Saturday (September 6) | 16:00-23:00 at Nacht der Forschung 2025 at the University of Bern ✨ Come and check out our booth "RNA – Master of Versatility" 👩‍🔬 Meet our researchers & enjoy pipetted cocktails at the reproduzierBAR! www.nachtderforschung.unibe.ch #ndfunibern @unibe.ch

Preprint by the Thiel, Heller&Chao labs w/1st author Reto Lang "Stress granules formed during different RNA virus infections show remarkable plasticity &substantial virus-specific differences in their formation&composition" @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social buff.ly/vU7Tdg6 @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social

The MCID funded a study by the IKMB @unibe.ch to track how conspiracies start, spread & the role of the media to stop them. Journalists and Researchers discussed findings and raised new questions in a May workshop. Read the UniAktuell article here: bit.ly/3Hy7V6m #MCID #Research #Journalism

Dealing with conspiracy theories: debunking works

During the pandemic, Bern-based researchers conducted real-time analyses to determine how the media can most effectively curb conspiracy theories. A workshop for journalists brought together the world...

bit.ly

Happy August. Here is a little surprise for everybody: The english version of my book is finally available. You can get it on Amazon. You can also read and listen to it on my blog, where I will release the book as freely accessible serialized novel. 1/ www.protagonist-science.com/p/lab-leak-f...

Lab Leak Fever

The COVID-19 Origin Theory that Sabotaged Science and Society

protagonist-science.com