Modern virology represents a highly innovative field of activity in research and diagnostics.
At the Institute of Immunology and Genetics (IIG), virological diagnostics are characterized primarily by the (early) establishment of state-of-the-art molecular biological methods. As one of the first established medical laboratories, the IIG successively introduced Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) into many areas of routine diagnostics in 2008.
Molecular biology virus diagnostics focuses on chronic viral infections, such as infections with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV) and C virus (HCV). The “monitoring” of viral load or the number of helper cells during HIV infection is part of the daily routine.
In spite of highly effective antiviral therapies, resistance to antiviral substances can repeatedly develop, leading to therapy failure. The application of high-resolution resistance testing using NGS technology can detect minor, resistant variants even before a fulminant virological failure and thus initiate a change in therapy at an early stage without dramatic loss of therapy options. The high-resolution resistance test also provides additional safety for first-line therapy for treatment-naive HIV-positive patients.
Since the introduction of high-resolution resistance testing for HIV, HBV and HCV, more than 15,000 samples have been tested by 2016, a record that is certainly unique worldwide.
Numerous publications with our cooperation partners at home and abroad testify to our active research activities and the trust placed in our special virus diagnostics.
We are engaged by physicians at university hospitals and specialized medical practices for all virological issues, from diagnostics, in particularly in case of drug resistance up to advice on changing the therapy.