The Laboratory of Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology (LEE) team led byProf. Ladislav Kokoška is helping to protect doctors and seniors.
Focus of the laboratory is on study of chemistry and bioactivity of underutilized crops of tropical and subtropical origin. Species used by native peoples in traditional folk medicinal systems are plants of special interest.
Covid-19 pandemic stopped temporarily main research work of LEE, it caused cancellation of several expeditions, e.g. to Ghana, Laos, Philippines, and Thailand. Therefore, LEE team started preventing the spread of coronavirus infection.
Disinfection
The laboratory space was changed into “a factory” for production of a hand sanitizer according to the WHO guideline with a registered name “Bez-infekce”. A group of PhD students initiated its preparation and distribution in the hospitals and the senior homes where the prevention of the infections is so important in this time.
Ecology, Evolution, Emergence & Epidemiology of Zoonoses (e4) Research Group led by Dr.Jiří Černý is focusing on SARS-CoV-2 virus research.
Focus to three main lineages of research: 1) analyze mutations in viral genomes which available in data depositories. 2) work on a project focused on development of simplified method for virus detection which is supported by TAČR Gama2 grant. 3) test which animal species are susceptible to virus infection.
We are testing
SARS-CoV-2 virus testing is focusing to all animals, which are in intensive contact with humans. Nowadays,we collaborate for example with ZOO Dvůr Kralové, who provide us samples from monkeys kept there.Virus can pose a big threat to all primates, wild living or kept in captivity.With pets we use social and traditional media to start a citizen sciences project which goal is to collect samples from pets belonging to owners who were diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 positive. We want to test which animal species can be permissive to infection.If you know some veterinarians, please try to ask him if he/she can join this research and inform the clients about it.
