The state key laboratory of virology was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China in November 2004 for establishment and built in March 2005 upon the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Its supervisory authority is the Ministry of Education of China. The laboratory is subordinated to Wuhan University and Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The chairman of the academic committee of the laboratory is Chen Huanchun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; The overall orientation of the laboratory is: fundamental study and applied fundamental study of virology, aimed at the frontier of virology, laying a good foundation of virology and carrying out original study; targeted at the frontier field of virology, solving significant scientific issues and achieving milestone achievement; providing technical support for preventing and treating viral disease for national demand and human health. The development goal of the laboratory is: an internationally known virology study center with sustained innovation ability, a base for cultivating high level talent of virology, an important component of the scientific and technological innovation system of China.
The laboratory is focused on the national strategic goal, sticks closely to the scientific and technological frontier in the world and caters to the demand of people’s health, with viruses that cause significant or abrupt contagion (hepatitis virus, influenza virus, herpes virus, AIDS virus and FMD virus, etc.) as the main study object. The laboratory uses virology and modern biological technologies, at different levels such as molecule, virus, host cell, organism and population, to study the molecular process of virus infection and the life phenomenon along with it, expound the molecular mechanism of virus infection, immunity and pathogenesis, reveal the epidemic rule of virus disease, complete the virus resources and information database and develop technologies for virus disease diagnosis and prevention and treatment.It has summarized four research fields: 1) heredity and variation invirus; 2) molecular mechanism of interaction between virus and cell; 3) virus immunity and pathogenesis mechanism; 4) fundamental study of virus disease. It has developed its features and advantages in the research field of virology by combining theory with application.
Since its establishment, the laboratory has achieved a series of important achievements in such aspects as molecular biology and epidemiology of virus, invasion and reproduction mechanism of virus, pathogenesis and immunologic mechanism of virus, innovative technology of virology study and prevention and treatment technologies of virus disease. The laboratory has published 1096 papers that were collected by SCI, which include Cell, Science, Lancet, PLoS Med, PLoS Pathog, Mol Cell, PNAS, Emerg Infect Dis, FASBE J, J Virol and J Immunol. It has edited or taken part in edition of 26 academic works, was awarded with 10 scientific research achievement awards at provincial or ministerial level, and obtained 129 authorized national invention patents.
The laboratory has the type culture collection center of China (one of the international collection organizations recognized by the world intellectual property organization, the virus resources and information center of China (the largest virus collection base in Asia); it has built a complete bio-safety laboratory (including grade II bio-safety laboratory BSL-2, grade III bio-safety lab BSL-3, grade III bio-safety animal lab ABSL-3, and a grade IV bio-safety lab BSL-4 under construction), proteomics research technology platform, virus resources and information technology platform, infectious disease pathogen monitoring technology platform, and high throughput drug screening technology platform, etc. The laboratory has held 29 large academic meetings at home and abroad and established good international partnership with more than ten countries and regions such as America, France, England, the Netherlands and Japan.
The state key laboratory of virology has been developed into one of the important bases for China in developing fundamental theory and applied fundamental study of virology, cultivating high-level talents and promoting international and domestic scientific research cooperation and academic exchange in virology and associated fields.
Homepage: http://klv/whu.edu.cn/