Home > About the Institut Pasteur － Activities
Over the past century, the Institut Pasteur has made a number of honorable achievements that benefit public health, such as the identification of Yersinia pestis, development of the polio vaccine, and the discovery of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The Institut Pasteur has also produced ten Nobel laureates.
Recently, the Ebola fever and Dengue fever caused an outbreak around Guinea, Africa. Such infectious diseases were previously confined to tropical regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia. However, in recent years, the threat of infectious diseases has become a serious problem that could cross borders and happen in any part of the world due to the globalized exchange of people and goods, and due to global warming.
As of 2019, the Institut Pasteur utilizes its International Network of 32 laboratories and partner research institutions spread around the world to work together on various joint programs for infectious disease research and education.
The Institut Pasteur identified the virus that causes Ebola fever for the first time in the world in 2014. In collaboration with other research institutes, the Institut Pasteur also succeeded in analyzing the gene virus. In addition, the Institut Pasteur is participating in the Global Virus Network’s Zika Task Force and the Chickungunya Task Force.
Most recently, the Institut Pasteur has completed the whole genome analysis of SARS-CoV-2, and is currently endeavoring vigorously to devlop a vaccine for COVID-19.
It is vital to develop measures against emerging and reemerging global threats of infectious diseases, and strengthen international cooperation. This necessity increases the importance of research activities conducted by outstanding specialized researchers at the Institut Pasteur.
The Institut Pasteur actively utilizes the results of its basic research and applied research and has been working with universities, research institutes and companies around the world. In Japan, too, the Institut Pasteur has established a collaborative system in research and education. Currently two "International Joint Research Units" by the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur exist, and their members conduct research while freely going back and forth between both laboratories. Japan is the first country to have this new form of international joint team research, designed by the Institut Pasteur.