“The coronavirus led people to take generosity out of the drawer and reduce competitiveness”

I coordinate the Emerging Virus Studies Laboratory, Leve, at the State University of Campinas [Unicamp]. Before the pandemic, we studied the mechanism by which certain viruses – especially those transmitted by insects, arborviruses – cause diseases. Our focus was on some Amazonian viruses, such as oropouche and mayaro, which cause febrile exanthematous diseases [with skin rashes], in addition to the dengue, zika and chikungunya viruses. Many studies were carried out with knockout mice, which do not express certain genes essential for the body's response to the virus. We use this strategy to understand which components of the immune response control infection.

Law complete article in Pesquisa Fapesp Magazine