{"id":92563,"date":"2025-11-19T13:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/?p=92563"},"modified":"2026-02-02T11:10:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T10:10:51","slug":"two-viruses-in-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/two-viruses-in-the-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Viruses in the Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dr. Heng-Chang Chen, leader of the Quantitative Virology Research Group<\/a> at \u0141ukasiewicz \u2013 PORT, has been named among the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>New Voices in Virology<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Journal of Virology<\/span><\/span>. The program highlights researchers who bring fresh perspectives and innovative methods to contemporary virology.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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HIV \u2013 the virus that can hide <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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For years, Dr. Chen\u2019s team has been investigating the mechanisms of HIV latency, that is, the virus\u2019s ability to hide within the human genome. After entering a cell, HIV integrates its genetic material into the\u00a0host\u00a0DNA and can remain dormant for many years. Some viruses never reactivate, while others can \u201cwake up\u201d and resume replication.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cOur goal is to understand why some viruses become active while others enter a silent state. We suspect that HIV may actively program its own transition into latency,\u201d explains Dr. Chen.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The team has developed a\u00a0unique in\u00a0vitro cellular model in which each cell\u00a0contains\u00a0a single integrated HIV DNA copy. This allows researchers to\u00a0observe\u00a0diverse viral behaviors, ranging from constant activity to complete dormancy. Based on these data, the scientists created a mathematical model of the so-called \u201cnoise space,\u201d which helps predict HIV activity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This research has practical implications, as different forms of HIV respond differently to antiretroviral drugs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWhen designing antiretroviral therapies, it is essential to take into account differences between viral variants\u00a0\u2013\u00a0each may have its own pharmacological preferences,\u201d emphasizes Dr. Chen.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In a proposed article for the\u00a0<\/span>Journal of Virology<\/span><\/i>, prepared as part of the\u00a0<\/span>New Voices in Virology<\/span><\/i>\u00a0series, Dr. Chen analyzes whether deep learning can be used to predict the microenvironment of HIV reservoirs based on multidimensional data.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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SARS-CoV-2 \u2013 the virus that jumps between species <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\u201cViruses existed before us and will remain after us. Some are beneficial, others harmful\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but all of them teach us how delicate the balance is between the health of humans, animals, and the environment,\u201d says Dr. Chen.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

His team combines molecular biology, mathematics, and artificial intelligence to better understand the complex world of microorganisms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Viruses \u2013 old companions and new challenges <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\u2013 Wirusy by\u0142y przed nami i pozostan\u0105 po nas. Niekt\u00f3re s\u0105 nam potrzebne, inne nam szkodz\u0105 \u2013 ale wszystkie ucz\u0105 nas, jak delikatny jest balans mi\u0119dzy zdrowiem ludzi, zwierz\u0105t a \u015brodowiskiem \u2013 m\u00f3wi dr Chen, kt\u00f3rego zesp\u00f3\u0142 \u0142\u0105czy biologi\u0119 molekularn\u0105, matematyk\u0119 i sztuczn\u0105 inteligencj\u0119, by lepiej zrozumie\u0107 \u015bwiat mikroorganizm\u00f3w.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Heng-Chang Chen, leader of the Quantitative Virology Research Group at \u0141ukasiewicz \u2013 PORT, has been selected for the prestigious New Voices in Virology program by the Journal of Virology. The initiative showcases researchers who bring fresh perspectives and innovative methods to modern virology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":91665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[204],"tags":[690],"class_list":["post-92563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-researches"],"acf":{"czas_czytania":"3","order":"0"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 11:36:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92563"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97213,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92563\/revisions\/97213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}