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Posted: 22nd December 2025

Stem cell study to tackle African Swine Fever
Wild African pig species appear to have some resistance to ASFV.
Researchers will seek to define factors relating to susceptibility and resistance.

A £1.6m research project will see researchers use stem cell technology to discover why African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is fatal in domestic pigs.

The study will explore why domestic pigs appear to be susceptible to the disease, while wild African pig species appear to have some resistance.

The project will make use of stem cell technology, developed at the Roslin Institute, to generate pig, warthog and red river hog immune cells – the primary cellular target of the virus. This could be exposed to the virus, enabling scientists to observe cellular response to the infection in various species and identify the genes involved with this.

Since there is not currently an effective vaccine, the control of ASFV has been limited to slaughter and quarantine of infected animals. This is causing major economic losses.

Through the three-year project, researchers will aim to identify the key genetic factors behind resistance and reliance, comparing the immune response of domestic pigs and wild African pigs. 

It is hoped that the findings could inform the breeding of animals with a greater resistance to ASFV.

The Pirbright Institute will collaborate with the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) in France and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Spain. It is part-funded by Defra.

Finn Grey, from the Roslin Institute, said: “Our expertise in high-throughput genetic screens, combined with advanced stem cell biology available in Dr Tom Burdon’s lab, will allow us to evaluate the function of thousands of genes simultaneously in cells and pinpoint key host factors regulating African Swine Fever virus.”

Chris Netherton, of the Pirbright Institute, added: “There is a key knowledge gap and we aim to characterise the host factors responsible for ASFV resistance and deepen our knowledge of ASFV host-pathogen interactions.

“We hypothesise that susceptibility and resilience to ASFV is determined in part by intrinsic characteristics of macrophages, and their innate response. Our project will identify biomarkers of resistance, using pluripotent stem cells to identify host factors that regulate susceptibility and resistance to ASFV infection in macrophages.”

Image © EcoPrint/Shutterstock.com



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