New Scottish medical lab opens

The £1-million facility will research a range of viral and parasitic diseases such as influenza and sleeping sickness, by providing a secure space for the study of dangerous pathogens.

Our studies will provide important new information that may help in the design of new antiviral drugs and perhaps protective vaccines

Richard Elliot

Professor of virology

University of St Andrews

Furthermore, the laboratory has received a £1.25-million investment from the Medical Research Council to investigate hantaviruses, or infections which are passed from rodents to humans.

Richard Elliot, the university's professor of virology, commented: "Our studies will provide important new information that may help in the design of new antiviral drugs and perhaps protective vaccines.

Professor Elliot also highlighted the university's history in virology, noting that it hosted a conference which brought together 90 leading scientists to look at the latest research in zoonoses - illnesses such as avian flu which are spread to humans from animals.

The new facilities are linked to the University of St Andrews' Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, which undertakes research in areas such as DNA repair, chemical biology and parasitology.