Biology Digest

  Presented By: Prof. Dr. Alexander Scheffold Felix Eppler, PhD Speaker Biography: Prof. Scheffold is the Director of the Institute of Immunology at the Universitätsklinikum, Schleswig-Holstein, and the Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany. Prior to this, he led the Cellular Immunology Group at the Clinic for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology of the Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, and at the German Rheumatism Research Center (DRFZ) Berlin, Germany. He obtained his PhD in Immunology at the University of Cologne in 1997. As a global product manager, Felix is responsible for the development of applications, new protocols, and products for the MACSQuant® Tyto® Cell Sorter from Miltenyi Biotec. Before joining Miltenyi Biotec in 2018, Felix worked as a research associate at the LIMES Institute, University of Bonn, Germany, with a strong focus on Molecular Immunology and Cell Biology. He obtained his PhD in Molecular Biomedicine from the University in Bonn in 2017. Webi...

  Members of the Gorilla Troop at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive for coronavirus and were quarantined, in the first known case of Covid-19 transmission in these mammalian animals, it was reported. On January 8, gorillas were found to have been infected with the coronavirus and the United States Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the positive result on January 11. “Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well,” said Lisa Peterson, executive director, San Diego Zoo Safari Park. “The troop remains quarantined together and are eating and drinking. We are hopeful for a full recovery.” It is suspected the gorillas acquired the infection from an asymptomatic staff member, despite following all recommended precautions including COVID-19 safety protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and San Diego County Public Health as well as wearing PPE when near the gorillas. Research studies have ve...