143-694: Christian Heinrich Maria Drosten ( German: [ˈkʁɪs.ti̯an ˈdʁɔs.tn̩] , born 1972) is a German virologist whose research focus is on novel viruses ( emergent viruses ) . During the COVID-19 pandemic , Drosten came to national prominence as an expert on the implications and actions required to combat the illness in Germany. Drosten was born in Lingen and grew up on a farm in Groß Hesepe [ de ] , Emsland . After graduating from
286-424: A bacterial nor a fungal infection , but something completely different. Beijerinck used the word "virus" to describe the mysterious agent in his ' contagium vivum fluidum ' ('contagious living fluid'). Rosalind Franklin proposed the full structure of the tobacco mosaic virus in 1955. One main motivation for the study of viruses is because they cause many infectious diseases of plants and animals. The study of
429-603: A European ship, prompted the commission to look into legislation against toxic waste. at that time did not even have a crime against shipping toxic waste; this led the Commissioners Franco Frattini and Stavros Dimas to put forward the idea of "ecological crimes". Their right to propose criminal law was challenged in the European Court of Justice but upheld. As of 2007, the only other criminal law proposals which have been brought forward are on
572-537: A commissioner. A commissioner's portfolio can be supported by numerous DGs; they prepare proposals for them and if approved by a majority of commissioners proposals go forward to the Parliament and Council for consideration. The Commission's civil service is headed by a Secretary General . The position is currently held by Ilze Juhansone . The rules of procedure of the European Commission set out
715-539: A dedicated Directorate-General . The European Parliament can dissolve the College of Commissioners as a whole following a vote of no-confidence , which requires a two-thirds vote. Only the President can request the resignation of an individual Commissioner. However, individual Commissioners, by request of the council or Commission, can be compelled to retire on account of a breach of obligation(s) and if so ruled by
858-554: A disadvantage in that it does not differentiate infectious and non-infectious viruses and "tests of cure" have to be delayed for up to 21 days to allow for residual viral nucleic acid to clear from the site of the infection. In laboratories many of the diagnostic test for detecting viruses are nucleic acid amplification methods such as PCR. Some tests detect the viruses or their components as these include electron microscopy and enzyme-immunoassays . The so-called "home" or "self"-testing gadgets are usually lateral flow tests , which detect
1001-694: A duty to ensure the treaties and law are upheld, potentially by taking member states or other institutions to the Court of Justice in a dispute. In this role it is known informally as the "Guardian of the Treaties". Finally, the Commission provides some external representation for the Union, alongside the member states and the Common Foreign and Security Policy , representing the Union in bodies such as
1144-638: A few days after identification and before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, he succeeded in developing a diagnostic test for the newly identified virus. Drosten immediately made his findings on SARS available to the scientific community on the internet, even before his article appeared in New England Journal of Medicine in May 2003. Among others, this was honoured by
1287-400: A greater degree of politicisation within the Commission . The commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries . Each covers a specific policy area such as agriculture or justice and citizens' rights or internal services such as human resources and translation and is headed by a director-general who is responsible to
1430-441: A greater weight on certain virus properties to maintain family uniformity. A unified taxonomy (a universal system for classifying viruses) has been established. Only a small part of the total diversity of viruses has been studied. As of 2021, 6 realms, 10 kingdoms, 17 phyla, 2 subphyla, 39 classes, 65 orders, 8 suborders, 233 families, 168 subfamilies , 2,606 genera, 84 subgenera , and 10,434 species of viruses have been defined by
1573-522: A light microscope, sequencing is one of the main tools in virology to identify and study the virus. Traditional Sanger sequencing and next-generation sequencing (NGS) are used to sequence viruses in basic and clinical research, as well as for the diagnosis of emerging viral infections, molecular epidemiology of viral pathogens, and drug-resistance testing. There are more than 2.3 million unique viral sequences in GenBank. NGS has surpassed traditional Sanger as
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#17327825894071716-635: A likely candidate (in general, the elected candidate is determined, according to the results of the European election , as winner of the internal election into the dominant European party known as " spitzenkandidat "). While the European People's Party had won the European Parliament election, they had performed worse than expected and therefore nominated von der Leyen instead of Manfred Weber , their original candidate. On 9 September,
1859-613: A majority (17,664) of staff being based in the country. Communication with the press is handled by the Directorate-General Communication . The commission's chief spokesperson is Eric Mamer who holds the midday press briefings, commonly known as the "Midday Presser". It takes place every weekday in the commission's press room at the Berlaymont where journalists may ask questions to the Commission officials on any topic and legitimately expect to get an "on
2002-625: A natural origin, which it referred to as "conspiracy theories." On 17 March 2020, Drosten was appointed to the European Commission 's advisory panel on COVID-19 , co-chaired by EC President Ursula von der Leyen and ECHSF Stella Kyriakides . On 23 March 2020, The Guardian described Drosten as "the [German] country's real face of the coronavirus crisis", and also noted that the Süddeutsche Zeitung had described Drosten as "the nation's corona-explainer-in-chief". He
2145-616: A number of Vice-presidents from among the commissioners. Vice-presidents manage policy areas involving multiple Commissioners. One of these includes the High Representative , who is automatically one of the Vice-presidents ex officio rather than by appointment and confirmation. Commonly referred to as the 'HR/VP' position, the High Representative also coordinates commissioners' activities involving
2288-473: A previously undergone Covid infection does not impede virus replication in the throat after three months and that therefore it likely does not protect against transmission. On 26 December 2022, he considered that the pandemic was over and that the acquired immunity would protect the following summer. Within a day, federal minister of justice Marco Buschmann then called for the Corona protections to be ended, which
2431-601: A result. In 2008, Paul van Buitenen (the former auditor known from the Santer Commission scandal) accused the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) of a lack of independence and effectiveness. Barroso's first Commission term expired on 31 October 2009. Under the Treaty of Nice, the first Commission to be appointed after the number of member states reached 27 would have to be reduced to "less than
2574-551: A similar filter. In the early 20th century, the English bacteriologist Frederick Twort discovered a group of viruses that infect bacteria, now called bacteriophages (or commonly 'phages'), and the French-Canadian microbiologist Félix d'Herelle described viruses that, when added to bacteria on an agar plate , would produce areas of dead bacteria. He accurately diluted a suspension of these viruses and discovered that
2717-456: A solution passed through it. In 1892, the Russian biologist Dmitri Ivanovsky used this filter to study what is now known as the tobacco mosaic virus : crushed leaf extracts from infected tobacco plants remained infectious even after filtration to remove bacteria. Ivanovsky suggested the infection might be caused by a toxin produced by bacteria, but he did not pursue the idea. At the time it
2860-547: A son born in 2017. His long-time partner is also a scientist. His hobby is playing the guitar. During the height of the corona crisis, the popular punk band ZSK released a song about his work, which went viral. Virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses . It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity,
3003-521: A source of competition between areas of the Commission and Commissioners themselves. This also leads to an unusually high number of press releases, and is seen as a unique product of the EU's political set-up. There is a larger press corps in Brussels than Washington, D.C.; in 2020, media outlets in every Union member-state had a Brussels correspondent . Although there has been a worldwide cut in journalists,
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#17327825894073146-401: A statistical probability such as the volume of the test sample needed to ensure 50% of the hosts cells, plants or animals are infected. This is called the median infectious dose or ID 50 . Infective bacteriophages can be counted by seeding them onto "lawns" of bacteria in culture dishes. When at low concentrations, the viruses form holes in the lawn that can be counted. The number of viruses
3289-460: A top speed of around 100,000 rpm, are and this difference is used in a method called differential centrifugation . In this method the larger and heavier contaminants are removed from a virus mixture by low speed centrifugation. The viruses, which are small and light and are left in suspension, are then concentrated by high speed centrifugation. Following differential centrifugation, virus suspensions often remain contaminated with debris that has
3432-484: A whole. If the European Parliament submits a negative opinion of a candidate, the President must either reshuffle them or request a new candidate from the member state to avoid the college's outright rejection by the European Parliament. Once the college is approved by parliament, it is formally appointed following a QMV vote by the European Council . Following the college's appointment, the President appoints
3575-585: A workflow of a real-time PCR (RT-PCR) diagnostic test, which was accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and which sent test kits to affected regions. On 19 February 2020, Drosten, along with 26 other scientists, published the Lancet letter in support of scientists and medical professionals in China fighting the outbreak and condemning theories suggesting that the virus does not have
3718-675: Is virus classification . It is artificial in that it is not based on evolutionary phylogenetics but it is based shared or distinguishing properties of viruses. It seeks to describe the diversity of viruses by naming and grouping them on the basis of similarities. In 1962, André Lwoff , Robert Horne , and Paul Tournier were the first to develop a means of virus classification, based on the Linnaean hierarchical system. This system based classification on phylum , class , order , family , genus , and species . Viruses were grouped according to their shared properties (not those of their hosts) and
3861-516: Is a broad subject covering biology, health, animal welfare, agriculture and ecology. Louis Pasteur was unable to find a causative agent for rabies and speculated about a pathogen too small to be detected by microscopes. In 1884, the French microbiologist Charles Chamberland invented the Chamberland filter (or Pasteur-Chamberland filter) with pores small enough to remove all bacteria from
4004-472: Is also dependent on the size of area that the user is counting. A larger area will require more time but can provide a more accurate representation of the sample. Results of the FFA are expressed as focus forming units per milliliter, or FFU/ When an assay for measuring the infective virus particle is done (Plaque assay, Focus assay), viral titre often refers to the concentration of infectious viral particles, which
4147-634: Is different from the total viral particles. Viral load assays usually count the number of viral genomes present rather than the number of particles and use methods similar to PCR . Viral load tests are an important in the control of infections by HIV. This versatile method can be used for plant viruses. Molecular virology is the study of viruses at the level of nucleic acids and proteins. The methods invented by molecular biologists have all proven useful in virology. Their small sizes and relatively simple structures make viruses an ideal candidate for study by these techniques. For further study, viruses grown in
4290-437: Is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner. Currently, there is one member per member state , but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. The Commission President (currently Ursula von der Leyen )
4433-406: Is formed. The FFA is particularly useful for quantifying classes of viruses that do not lyse the cell membranes, as these viruses would not be amenable to the plaque assay. Like the plaque assay, host cell monolayers are infected with various dilutions of the virus sample and allowed to incubate for a relatively brief incubation period (e.g., 24–72 hours) under a semisolid overlay medium that restricts
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4576-495: Is not binding. The commission's powers in proposing law have usually centred on economic regulation. It has put forward a large number of regulations based on a " precautionary principle ". This means that pre-emptive regulation takes place if there is a credible hazard to the environment or human health: for example on tackling climate change and restricting genetically modified organisms . The European Commission has committed EU member states to carbon neutrality by 2050. This
4719-593: Is not such a mirror in creating a European civil society . The Treaty of Lisbon may go some way to resolving the perceived deficit in creating greater democratic controls on the commission, including enshrining the procedure of linking elections to the selection of the Commission president. Historically, the commission had indeed been seen as a technocratic expert body which, akin with institutions such as independent central banks , deals with technical areas of policy and therefore ought to be removed from party politics. From this viewpoint, electoral pressures would undermine
4862-671: Is opposed to weighting regulations for their effect on the economy. Thus, the Commission often proposes stricter legislation than other countries. Owing to the size of the European market, this has made EU legislation an important influence in the global market. On February 23, 2022, the European Commission published the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive which establishes a framework of due diligence for companies to identify actual or potential risks and harm to human rights and
5005-435: Is particularly useful when studying the genetics of viruses that have segmented genomes (fragmented into two or more nucleic acid molecules) such as influenza viruses and rotaviruses . The genes that encode properties such as serotype can be identified in this way. Often confused with reassortment, recombination is also the mixing of genes but the mechanism differs in that stretches of DNA or RNA molecules, as opposed to
5148-686: Is proposed by the European Council (the 27 heads of state/governments) and elected by the European Parliament . The Council of the European Union then nominates the other members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President, and the 27 members as a team are then subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament. The current Commission is the Von der Leyen Commission , which took office in December 2019, following
5291-411: Is relatively inert but easily self-forms a gradient when centrifuged at high speed in an ultracentrifuge. Buoyant density centrifugation can also be used to purify the components of viruses such as their nucleic acids or proteins. The separation of molecules based on their electric charge is called electrophoresis . Viruses and all their components can be separated and purified using this method. This
5434-635: Is the primary executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government , with a number of members of the Commission ( directorial system , informally known as "Commissioners") corresponding to two thirds of the number of Member States, unless the European Council, acting unanimously, decides to alter this number. The current number of Commissioners is 27, including the President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The commission
5577-500: Is then expressed as plaque forming units . For the bacteriophages that reproduce in bacteria that cannot be grown in cultures, viral load assays are used. The focus forming assay (FFA) is a variation of the plaque assay, but instead of relying on cell lysis in order to detect plaque formation, the FFA employs immunostaining techniques using fluorescently labeled antibodies specific for a viral antigen to detect infected host cells and infectious virus particles before an actual plaque
5720-429: Is usually done in a supporting medium such as agarose and polyacrylamide gels . The separated molecules are revealed using stains such as coomasie blue , for proteins, or ethidium bromide for nucleic acids. In some instances the viral components are rendered radioactive before electrophoresis and are revealed using photographic film in a process known as autoradiography . As most viruses are too small to be seen by
5863-571: Is very sensitive and specific, but can be easily compromised by contamination. Most of the tests used in veterinary virology and medical virology are based on PCR or similar methods such as transcription mediated amplification . When a novel virus emerges, such as the covid coronavirus, a specific test can be devised quickly so long as the viral genome has been sequenced and unique regions of the viral DNA or RNA identified. The invention of microfluidic tests as allowed for most of these tests to be automated, Despite its specificity and sensitivity, PCR has
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6006-799: The bioMérieux Diagnostics Award from the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology , and the post-doctoral award for virology from the Robert Koch Foundation [ de ] . In 2005, Drosten was awarded the "Verdienstkreuz am Bande" (Cross) of the Federal Cross of Merit , 2020 he received the "Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse" (Officer's Cross) for his civil service in time of COVID-19. On Google Scholar , Drosten has an h-index of 144 as of May 2024. Drosten lives in Berlin- Prenzlauer Berg and has
6149-740: The Council of the European Union declared a list of candidate-commissioners, which are sent to Brussels by the governments of each member state and which had to be officially approved by the parliament. In September 2024, Von der Leyen revealed her new team of European Commissioners, marking a shift to a "leaner" and more interconnected structure. The lineup featured six executive vice-presidents (EVPs) from France, Finland, Estonia, Italy, Romania, and Spain. These EVPs, including Teresa Ribera and Stéphane Séjourné , were tasked with overseeing various clusters of Commissioners and steering key policy areas such as prosperity, security, and democracy. Raffaele Fitto
6292-643: The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). However, their executives were called "Commissions" rather than "High Authorities". The reason for the change in name was the new relationship between the executives and the Council . Some states, such as France, expressed reservations over the power of the High Authority and wished to limit it by giving more power to the Council rather than the new executives. Louis Armand led
6435-594: The European Parliament elections in May of the same year . The European Commission derives from one of the five key institutions created in the supranational European Community system, following the proposal of Robert Schuman , French Foreign Minister, on 9 May 1950. Originating in 1951 as the High Authority in the European Coal and Steel Community , the commission has undergone numerous changes in power and composition under various presidents, involving three Communities. The first Commission originated in 1951 as
6578-702: The German Red Cross (DRK) blood donation service Hessen in Frankfurt am Main . His dissertation (Dr. med.) on the establishment of a high-throughput system for testing blood donors was rated summa cum laude . From June 2000, Drosten worked as an intern in the laboratory group of the physician Herbert Schmitz in the virology department of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Hamburg , where he headed
6721-554: The High Representative by the European Council, each Commissioner is proposed by their member state (except for those states who provided the President and High Representative) in consultation with the Commission President and the Council of the European Union , who formally adopts the list of candidates. The President's proposed College of Commissioners is then subject to hearings at the European Parliament which will question them and then vote on their suitability as
6864-611: The World Trade Organization . It is also usual for the President to attend meetings of the G7 . The commission is composed of a "College of Commissioners " of 27 members, including the President and vice-presidents. Even though each member is nominated on the basis of the suggestions made by the national governments, one per state, they do not represent their state in the commission. In practice, however, they do occasionally press for their national interest. Once proposed,
7007-401: The environment as well as establishing processes and standards to diminish these risks. The Directive is expected to be officially adopted in 2024 and then be incorporated into domestic laws within two years by all of the European Union member states. Recently the commission has moved into creating European criminal law . In 2006, a toxic waste spill off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire , from
7150-614: The first Commission of Euratom . Walter Hallstein led the first Commission of the EEC , holding the first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse . It achieved agreement on a contentious cereal price accord, as well as making a positive impression upon third countries when it made its international debut at the Kennedy Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations. Hallstein notably began
7293-418: The intellectual property rights directive , and on an amendment to the 2002 counter-terrorism framework decision, outlawing terrorism‑related incitement, recruitment (especially via the internet) and training. Once legislation is passed by the Council and Parliament, it is the commission's responsibility to ensure it is implemented. It does this through the member states or through its agencies . In adopting
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#17327825894077436-459: The upper respiratory tract " in Nature . During the early months of the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany , Drosten advised politicians and authorities and was invited as an expert in the media, among others in the podcast Das Coronavirus-Update mit Christian Drosten [ de ] (English: The coronavirus update with Christian Drosten ), initially published daily during
7579-455: The Council decided otherwise. Membership would rotate equally and no member state would have more than one Commissioner. However, the treaty was rejected by voters in Ireland in 2008 with one main concern being the loss of their Commissioner. Hence a guarantee given for a rerun of the vote was that the council would use its power to amend the number of Commissioners upwards. However, according to
7722-457: The EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. In his first term, from 1985 to 1988, he rallied Europe to the call of the single market, and when appointed to a second term he began urging Europeans toward the far more ambitious goals of economic, monetary, and political union". The successor to Delors was Jacques Santer . As a result of a fraud and corruption scandal, the entire Santer Commission
7865-416: The EU (the European Council also holds individual national executive powers). However, it is the Commission that currently holds most of the executive power over the European Union . The Commission differs from the other institutions in that it alone has legislative initiative in the EU. Only the commission can make formal proposals for legislation: they cannot originate in the legislative branches. Under
8008-405: The EU, the legitimacy of the commission is mainly drawn from the vote of approval that is required from the European Parliament, along with its power to dismiss the body. Eurosceptics have therefore raised the concern of the relatively low turnout (often less than 50%) in elections for the European Parliament since 1999 . While that figure may be higher than that of some national elections, including
8151-600: The European Commission. Juncker appointed his previous campaign director and head of the transition team, Martin Selmayr , as his chief of cabinet. During the Juncker presidency Selmayr has been described as "the most powerful EU chief of staff ever." In 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was appointed as President of the European Commission. She submitted the guidelines of her policy to the European Parliament on 16 July 2019, following her confirmation. She had not been considered
8294-589: The European Court of Justice (Art. 245 and 247, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). The Barroso Commission took office in late 2004 after being delayed by objections from the Parliament, which forced a reshuffle. In 2007 the Commission increased from 25 to 27 members with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria who each appointed their own Commissioners. With the increasing size of
8437-607: The European Union, which represents governments, the European Parliament, which represents citizens , the Economic and Social Committee , which represents organised civil society, and the Committee of the Regions , which represents local and regional authorities. Through Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union the commission has several responsibilities: to develop medium-term strategies; to draft legislation and arbitrate in
8580-1016: The ICTV. The general taxonomic structure of taxon ranges and the suffixes used in taxonomic names are shown hereafter. As of 2021, the ranks of subrealm, subkingdom, and subclass are unused, whereas all other ranks are in use. The Nobel Prize-winning biologist David Baltimore devised the Baltimore classification system. The Baltimore classification of viruses is based on the mechanism of mRNA production. Viruses must generate mRNAs from their genomes to produce proteins and replicate themselves, but different mechanisms are used to achieve this in each virus family. Viral genomes may be single-stranded (ss) or double-stranded (ds), RNA or DNA, and may or may not use reverse transcriptase (RT). In addition, ssRNA viruses may be either sense (+) or antisense (−). This classification places viruses into seven groups: European Commission The European Commission ( EC )
8723-683: The Institute of Virology. From 2017 until 2019, Drosten was a member of the German Ministry of Health 's International Advisory Board on Global Health, chaired by Ilona Kickbusch . Since 2022, he has been serving on the Technical Advisory Panel of the joint World Bank / World Health Organization Pandemic Fund. Drosten was nominated by Alliance 90/The Greens as delegate to the Federal Conventions for
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#17327825894078866-541: The Parliament once again asserted itself in objecting to the proposed membership of the Barroso Commission. Owing to this opposition, Barroso was forced to reshuffle his College before taking office. The Barroso Commission was also the first full Commission since the enlargement in 2004 to 25 members; hence, the number of Commissioners at the end of the Prodi Commission had reached 30. As a result of
9009-584: The President delegates portfolios among each of the members. The power of a Commissioner largely depends upon their portfolio, and can vary over time. For example, the Education Commissioner has been growing in importance, in line with the rise in the importance of education and culture in European policy-making. Another example is the Competition Commissioner , who holds a highly visible position with global reach. Before
9152-403: The President of the European Commission, and although they are still proposed by the European Council; the European Parliament " elects " candidates to the office, rather than " approves " them as under the Treaty of Nice. The Barroso Commission is, in reaction to Euroscepticism , said to have toned down enforcement to increase integration. In 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker became President of
9295-421: The President of the European Commission. It has been noted by one researcher that the press releases issued by the commission are uniquely political. A release often goes through several stages of drafting which emphasises the role of the commission and is used "for justifying the EU and the Commission" increasing their length and complexity. Where there are multiple departments involved a press release can also be
9438-423: The Treaty of Lisbon, no legislative act is allowed in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy . In the other fields, the Council and Parliament can request legislation; in most cases the Commission initiates on the basis of these proposals. This monopoly is designed to ensure coordinated and coherent drafting of EU law . This monopoly has been challenged by some who claim the Parliament should also have
9581-416: The antibodies they react with. The use of the antibodies which were once exclusively derived from the serum (blood fluid) of animals is called serology . Once an antibody–reaction has taken place in a test, other methods are needed to confirm this. Older methods included complement fixation tests , hemagglutination inhibition and virus neutralisation . Newer methods use enzyme immunoassays (EIA). In
9724-489: The centrifugation. In some cases, preformed gradients are used where solutions of steadily decreasing density are carefully overlaid on each other. Like an object in the Dead Sea , despite the centrifugal force the virus particles cannot sink into solutions that are more dense than they are and they form discrete layers of, often visible, concentrated viruses in the tube. Caesium chloride is often used for these solutions as it
9867-581: The commission (66%) and concerning lack of transparency (36%). In 2010 the commission was sued for blocking access to documents on EU biofuel policy. This happened after media accused the Commission of blocking scientific evidence against biofuel subsidies. Lack of transparency, unclear lobbyist relations, conflicts of interests and excessive spending of the commission was highlighted in a number of reports by internal and independent auditing organisations. It has also been criticised on IT-related issues, particularly with regard to Microsoft . In September 2020,
10010-521: The commission can assume office, the college as a whole must be approved by the Parliament. Commissioners are supported by their personal cabinet who give them political guidance, while the Civil Service (the DGs, see below) deal with technical preparation. The President of the Commission is first proposed by the European Council , following a Qualified Majority Vote (QMV), taking into account
10153-420: The commission's lack of power over areas like foreign policy – that power is held by the Council of the European Union and the European Council, which some analysts have described as another executive. Considering that under the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Council has become a formal institution with the power of appointing the commission, it could be said that the two bodies hold the executive power of
10296-520: The commission's operation and organisation. There has been criticism from a number of people that the highly fragmented DG structure wastes a considerable amount of time in turf wars as the different departments and Commissioners compete with each other. Furthermore, the DGs can exercise considerable control over a Commissioner with the Commissioner having little time to learn to assert control over their staff. According to figures published by
10439-510: The commission's role as an independent regulator. Defenders of the Commission point out that legislation must be approved by the Council in all areas (the ministers of member states) and the European Parliament in most areas before it can be adopted, thus the amount of legislation which is adopted in any one country without the approval of its government is limited. In 2009 the European ombudsman published statistics of citizens' complaints against EU institutions, with most of them filed against
10582-555: The commission, 23,803 persons were employed by the commission as officials and temporary agents in September 2012. In addition to these, 9230 "external staff" (e.g. Contractual agents, detached national experts, young experts, trainees etc.) were employed. The single largest DG is the Directorate-General for Translation , with a 2309-strong staff, while the largest group by nationality is Belgian (18.7%), probably due to
10725-574: The commission, Barroso adopted a more presidential style of control over the college, which earned him some criticism. However, under Barroso, the commission began to lose ground to the larger member states as countries such as France, the UK and Germany sought to sideline its role. This has increased with the creation of the President of the European Council under the Treaty of Lisbon . There has also been
10868-412: The considerable press releases and operations such as Europe by Satellite and EuroparlTV leads many news organisations to believe they can cover the EU from these source and news agencies . The Commission shut down Presseurop on 20 December 2013, though the decision was criticised. As the commission is the executive branch, candidates are chosen individually by the 27 national governments. Within
11011-412: The consolidation of European law and started to have a notable impact on national legislation. Little heed was taken of his administration at first but, with help from the European Court of Justice , his Commission stamped its authority solidly enough to allow future Commissions to be taken more seriously. In 1965, however, accumulating differences between the French government of Charles de Gaulle and
11154-405: The determination of the structure of viruses. Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites and because they only reproduce inside the living cells of a host these cells are needed to grow them in the laboratory. For viruses that infect animals (usually called "animal viruses") cells grown in laboratory cell cultures are used. In the past, fertile hens' eggs were used and the viruses were grown on
11297-543: The detrimental effect they have on the host cell. These cytopathic effects are often characteristic of the type of virus. For instance, herpes simplex viruses produce a characteristic "ballooning" of the cells, typically human fibroblasts . Some viruses, such as mumps virus cause red blood cells from chickens to firmly attach to the infected cells. This is called "haemadsorption" or "hemadsorption". Some viruses produce localised "lesions" in cell layers called plaques , which are useful in quantitation assays and in identifying
11440-399: The diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy. The identification of the causative agent of tobacco mosaic disease (TMV) as a novel pathogen by Martinus Beijerinck (1898) is now acknowledged as being the official beginning of the field of virology as a discipline distinct from bacteriology . He realized the source was neither
11583-428: The documented species of animal, plant, and bacterial viruses were discovered during these years. In 1957 equine arterivirus and the cause of bovine virus diarrhoea (a pestivirus ) were discovered. In 1963 the hepatitis B virus was discovered by Baruch Blumberg , and in 1965 Howard Temin described the first retrovirus . Reverse transcriptase , the enzyme that retroviruses use to make DNA copies of their RNA,
11726-819: The end of 2003, Drosten, together with Stephan Günther, was awarded an €8,000 prize by the Werner Otto Foundation for the Promotion of Medical Research for the identification of the SARS coronavirus and the establishment of a rapid diagnostic test system. In 2004, Drosten received the GlaxoSmithKline funding award for clinical infectiology, the Abbott Diagnostics Award of the European Society for Clinical Virology ,
11869-405: The environment, are used in phage display techniques for screening proteins DNA sequences. They are a powerful tool in molecular biology. All viruses have genes which are studied using genetics . All the techniques used in molecular biology, such as cloning, creating mutations RNA silencing are used in viral genetics. Reassortment is the switching of genes from different parents and it
12012-615: The episcopal college Gymnasium Marianum [ de ] in Meppen , Drosten initially studied chemical engineering and biology in Dortmund and Münster . From 1994, he studied medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and completed his third state examination in May 2000. He did his doctorate at the Institute for transfusion medicine and immunohaematology of
12155-617: The euro. In response to the scandal, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) was created. Following Santer, Romano Prodi took office. The Amsterdam Treaty had increased the commission's powers and Prodi was dubbed by the press as something akin to a Prime Minister. Powers were strengthened again; the Treaty of Nice , signed in 2001, gave the Presidents more power over the composition of the College of Commissioners. José Manuel Barroso became president in 2004:
12298-444: The executive power of the EU was held by the council: it conferred on the Commission such powers for it to exercise. However, the council was allowed to withdraw these powers, exercise them directly, or impose conditions on their use. This aspect has been changed by the Treaty of Lisbon, after which the Commission exercises its powers just by virtue of the treaties. Powers are more restricted than most national executives, in part due to
12441-410: The external relations and defence cooperation of the European Union. The von der Leyen Commission also created the position of more senior Executive Vice-presidents , appointed from the three largest political groups in the European Parliament. Unlike the other vice-presidents, their mission is to manage the incumbent Commission's top priority policy areas, for which they receive additional support from
12584-630: The first enlargement to the north in 1973. With that enlargement, the College of Commissioners membership increased to thirteen under the Ortoli Commission (the United Kingdom as a large member was granted two Commissioners), which dealt with the enlarged community during economic and international instability at that time. The external representation of the Community took a step forward when President Roy Jenkins , recruited to
12727-469: The first time in the 1930s when electron microscopes were invented. These microscopes use beams of electrons instead of light, which have a much shorter wavelength and can detect objects that cannot be seen using light microscopes. The highest magnification obtainable by electron microscopes is up to 10,000,000 times whereas for light microscopes it is around 1,500 times. Virologists often use negative staining to help visualise viruses. In this procedure,
12870-455: The first virus to be grown without using solid animal tissue or eggs. This work enabled Hilary Koprowski , and then Jonas Salk , to make an effective polio vaccine . The first images of viruses were obtained upon the invention of electron microscopy in 1931 by the German engineers Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll . In 1935, American biochemist and virologist Wendell Meredith Stanley examined
13013-435: The formula of one member for small states and two for larger states. The Rey Commission completed the Community's customs union in 1968 and campaigned for a more powerful, elected, European Parliament . Despite Rey being the first President of the combined communities, Hallstein is seen as the first President of the modern Commission. The Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions followed with work on monetary co-operation and
13156-590: The full molecules, are joined during the RNA or DNA replication cycle. Recombination is not as common as reassortment in nature but it is a powerful tool in laboratories for studying the structure and functions of viral genes. Reverse genetics is a powerful research method in virology. In this procedure complementary DNA (cDNA) copies of virus genomes called "infectious clones" are used to produce genetically modified viruses that can be then tested for changes in say, virulence or transmissibility. A major branch of virology
13299-438: The full structure of the virus in 1955. In the same year, Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat and Robley Williams showed that purified tobacco mosaic virus RNA and its protein coat can assemble by themselves to form functional viruses, suggesting that this simple mechanism was probably the means through which viruses were created within their host cells. The second half of the 20th century was the golden age of virus discovery, and most of
13442-428: The high vacuum inside the electron microscope and the electron beam itself is destructive. In cryogenic electron microscopy the structure of viruses is preserved by embedding them in an environment of vitreous water . This allows the determination of biomolecular structures at near-atomic resolution, and has attracted wide attention to the approach as an alternative to X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy for
13585-510: The highest dilutions (lowest virus concentrations), rather than killing all the bacteria, formed discrete areas of dead organisms. Counting these areas and multiplying by the dilution factor allowed him to calculate the number of viruses in the original suspension. Phages were heralded as a potential treatment for diseases such as typhoid and cholera , but their promise was forgotten with the development of penicillin . The development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics has renewed interest in
13728-476: The increase in the number of states, the Amsterdam Treaty triggered a reduction in the number of Commissioners to one per state, rather than two for the larger states. Allegations of fraud and corruption were again raised in 2004 by former chief auditor Jules Muis. A Commission officer, Guido Strack , reported alleged fraud and abuses in his department in the years 2002–2004 to OLAF, and was fired as
13871-542: The journal Nature . From 2012, the research group led by Drosten also researched the Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV). In mid-January 2020, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 yielded to his method. The virus first came to light on 30 December 2019, because Li Wenliang (the Chinese ophthalmologist whistleblower who later died of the virus) forced the Chinese government to broadcast its existence
14014-596: The laboratory group Molecular Diagnostics and established a research program for the molecular diagnostics of tropical viral diseases. From 2007, Drosten headed the Institute of Virology at University Hospital Bonn . During this time he worked with Isabella Eckerle , who would go on to lead the department of emerging viruses at the University of Geneva . In 2017, he accepted a call to the Charité in Berlin, where he heads
14157-406: The laboratory need purifying to remove contaminants from the host cells. The methods used often have the advantage of concentrating the viruses, which makes it easier to investigate them. Centrifuges are often used to purify viruses. Low speed centrifuges, i.e. those with a top speed of 10,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) are not powerful enough to concentrate viruses, but ultracentrifuges with
14300-400: The latest parliamentary elections (any person from the largest party can be picked ); that candidate then faces a formal election in the European Parliament . Thus this serves as a form of indirect election . If the European Parliament fails to elect the candidate, the European Council shall propose another within one month. Following the selection of the President, and the appointment of
14443-404: The legislative process; to represent the EU in trade negotiations; to make rules and regulations, for example in competition policy; to draw up the budget of the European Union ; and to scrutinise the implementation of the treaties and legislation. The rules of procedure of the European Commission set out the commission's operation and organisation. Before the Treaty of Lisbon came into force,
14586-404: The mainstay of virology, did not exist. Now there are many methods for observing the structure and functions of viruses and their component parts. Thousands of different viruses are now known about and virologists often specialize in either the viruses that infect plants, or bacteria and other microorganisms , or animals. Viruses that infect humans are now studied by medical virologists. Virology
14729-463: The manner in which viruses cause disease is viral pathogenesis . The degree to which a virus causes disease is its virulence . These fields of study are called plant virology , animal virology and human or medical virology . Virology began when there were no methods for propagating or visualizing viruses or specific laboratory tests for viral infections. The methods for separating viral nucleic acids ( RNA and DNA ) and proteins , which are now
14872-471: The membranes surrounding the embryo. This method is still used in the manufacture of some vaccines. For the viruses that infect bacteria, the bacteriophages , the bacteria growing in test tubes can be used directly. For plant viruses, the natural host plants can be used or, particularly when the infection is not obvious, so-called indicator plants, which show signs of infection more clearly. Viruses that have grown in cell cultures can be indirectly detected by
15015-410: The more traditional hierarchy. Starting in 2018, the ICTV began to acknowledge deeper evolutionary relationships between viruses that have been discovered over time and adopted a 15-rank classification system ranging from realm to species. Additionally, some species within the same genus are grouped into a genogroup . The ICTV developed the current classification system and wrote guidelines that put
15158-610: The most 'dynamic' leader until Jacques Delors . The three bodies, collectively named the European Executives , co-existed until 1 July 1967 when, under the Merger Treaty , they were combined into a single administration under President Jean Rey . Owing to the merger, the Rey Commission saw a temporary increase to 14 members—although subsequent Commissions were reduced back to nine, following
15301-432: The most common ones are laboratory modified plasmids (small circular molecules of DNA produced by bacteria). The viral nucleic acid, or a part of it, is inserted in the plasmid, which is the copied many times over by bacteria. This recombinant DNA can then be used to produce viral components without the need for native viruses. The viruses that reproduce in bacteria, archaea and fungi are informally called "phages", and
15444-405: The most popular approach for generating viral genomes. Viral genome sequencing as become a central method in viral epidemiology and viral classification . Data from the sequencing of viral genomes can be used to determine evolutionary relationships and this is called phylogenetic analysis . Software, such as PHYLIP , is used to draw phylogenetic trees . This analysis is also used in studying
15587-456: The necessary technical measures, the commission is assisted by committees made up of representatives of member states and of the public and private lobbies (a process known in jargon as " comitology "). Furthermore, the commission is responsible for the implementation of the EU budget , ensuring, along with the Court of Auditors , that EU funds are correctly spent. In particular the commission has
15730-621: The next day. In early January 2020, the research group led by Drosten, together with Marion Koopmans ' group, a RIVM group including Chantal Reusken [ de ] , Maria Zambon and others, developed a test that was made available worldwide through the WHO. The whole research was published in the journal Eurosurveillance. In April 2020, the Drosten research group published "a detailed virological analysis of nine cases of COVID-19 that provides proof of active virus replication in tissues of
15873-651: The nine-member " High Authority " under President Jean Monnet (see Monnet Authority ). The High Authority was the supranational administrative executive of the new European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). It took office first on 10 August 1952 in Luxembourg City. In 1958, the Treaties of Rome had established two new communities alongside the ECSC: the European Economic Community (EEC) and
16016-523: The number of Member States". The exact number of Commissioners was to be decided by a unanimous vote of the European Council , and membership would rotate equally between member states. Following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in January 2007, this clause took effect for the next Commission. The Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force on 1 December 2009, mandated a reduction of the number of commissioners to two-thirds of member-states from 2014 unless
16159-594: The off-year elections of the United States Congress , the fact that there are no direct elections for the position of Commission President calls the position's legitimacy into question in the eyes of some Eurosceptics. The fact that the commission can directly decide (albeit with oversight from specially formed 'comitology committees' ) on the shape and character of implementing legislation further raises concerns about democratic legitimacy. Even though democratic structures and methods are changing there
16302-403: The ones that infect bacteria – bacteriophages – in particular are useful in virology and biology in general. Bacteriophages were some of the first viruses to be discovered, early in the twentieth century, and because they are relatively easy to grow quickly in laboratories, much of our understanding of viruses originated by studying them. Bacteriophages, long known for their positive effects in
16445-570: The other member states on various subjects (British entry, direct elections to Parliament, the Fouchet Plan and the budget) triggered the "empty chair" crisis , ostensibly over proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy . Although the institutional crisis was solved the following year, it cost Étienne Hirsch his presidency of Euratom and later Walter Hallstein the EEC presidency, despite his otherwise being viewed as
16588-524: The particles including the defective ones. Infectivity assays measure the amount (concentration) of infective viruses in a sample of known volume. For host cells, plants or cultures of bacterial or animal cells are used. Laboratory animals such as mice have also been used particularly in veterinary virology. These are assays are either quantitative where the results are on a continuous scale or quantal, where an event either occurs or it does not. Quantitative assays give absolute values and quantal assays give
16731-509: The posts of European Commissioner for External Relations with the council's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy . This post, also a Vice-president of the Commission , would chair the Council of the European Union's foreign affairs meetings as well as the commission's external relations duties. The treaty further provides that the most recent European elections should be " taken into account " when appointing
16874-547: The presidency in January 1977 from his role as Home Secretary of the United Kingdom's Labour government, became the first President to attend a G8 summit on behalf of the Community. Following the Jenkins Commission , Gaston Thorn 's Commission oversaw the Community's enlargement to the south, in addition to beginning work on the Single European Act . The Commission headed by Jacques Delors
17017-541: The purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2022 . Drosten is committed to the transparent distribution of scientific data and therefore, publishes in specialist journals such as Eurosurveillance , where all articles are freely available online. In 2017 Drosten warned that the SARS virus potential needed to be investigated. On 23 January 2020, Drosten, along with other virologists in Europe and Hong Kong, published
17160-635: The record" answer for live TV. Such a situation is unique in the world. As an integral part of the Directorate-General for Communication, the Spokesperson's Service, in coordination with the Executive Communication Adviser in the President's Cabinet, supports the President and Commissioners so that they can communicate effectively. On political communication matters, the chief spokesperson reports directly to
17303-510: The right, with most national parliaments holding the right in some respects. However, the Council and Parliament may request the commission to draft legislation, though the Commission does have the power to refuse to do so as it did in 2008 over transnational collective conventions. Under the Lisbon Treaty, EU citizens are also able to request the commission to legislate in an area via a petition carrying one million signatures , but this
17446-407: The same sedimentation coefficient and are not removed by the procedure. In these cases a modification of centrifugation, called buoyant density centrifugation , is used. In this method the viruses recovered from differential centrifugation are centrifuged again at very high speed for several hours in dense solutions of sugars or salts that form a density gradient, from low to high, in the tube during
17589-402: The species of virus by plaque reduction assays . Viruses growing in cell cultures are used to measure their susceptibility to validated and novel antiviral drugs . Viruses are antigens that induce the production of antibodies and these antibodies can be used in laboratories to study viruses. Related viruses often react with each other's antibodies and some viruses can be named based on
17732-489: The spread of infectious virus, creating localized clusters (foci) of infected cells. Plates are subsequently probed with fluorescently labeled antibodies against a viral antigen, and fluorescence microscopy is used to count and quantify the number of foci. The FFA method typically yields results in less time than plaque or fifty-percent-tissue-culture-infective-dose (TCID 50 ) assays, but it can be more expensive in terms of required reagents and equipment. Assay completion time
17875-515: The spread of viral infections in communities ( epidemiology ). When purified viruses or viral components are needed for diagnostic tests or vaccines, cloning can be used instead of growing the viruses. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the availability of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA sequence enabled tests to be manufactured quickly. There are several proven methods for cloning viruses and their components. Small pieces of DNA called cloning vectors are often used and
18018-602: The therapeutic use of bacteriophages. By the end of the 19th century, viruses were defined in terms of their infectivity , their ability to pass filters, and their requirement for living hosts. Viruses had been grown only in plants and animals. In 1906 Ross Granville Harrison invented a method for growing tissue in lymph , and in 1913 E. Steinhardt, C. Israeli, and R.A. Lambert used this method to grow vaccinia virus in fragments of guinea pig corneal tissue. In 1928, H. B. Maitland and M. C. Maitland grew vaccinia virus in suspensions of minced hens' kidneys. Their method
18161-450: The tobacco mosaic virus and found it was mostly made of protein. A short time later, this virus was separated into protein and RNA parts. The tobacco mosaic virus was the first to be crystallised and its structure could, therefore, be elucidated in detail. The first X-ray diffraction pictures of the crystallised virus were obtained by Bernal and Fankuchen in 1941. Based on her X-ray crystallographic pictures, Rosalind Franklin discovered
18304-483: The treaties it still has to be fewer than the total number of members, thus it was proposed that the member state that does not get a Commissioner would get the post of High Representative – the so-called 26+1 formula. This guarantee (which may find its way into the next treaty amendment, probably in an accession treaty) contributed to the Irish approving the treaty in a second referendum in 2009. Lisbon also combined
18447-506: The type of nucleic acid forming their genomes. In 1966, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) was formed. The system proposed by Lwoff, Horne and Tournier was initially not accepted by the ICTV because the small genome size of viruses and their high rate of mutation made it difficult to determine their ancestry beyond order. As such, the Baltimore classification system has come to be used to supplement
18590-446: The virus using a tagged monoclonal antibody . These are also used in agriculture, food and environmental sciences. Counting viruses (quantitation) has always had an important role in virology and has become central to the control of some infections of humans where the viral load is measured. There are two basic methods: those that count the fully infective virus particles, which are called infectivity assays, and those that count all
18733-487: The viruses are suspended in a solution of metal salts such as uranium acetate. The atoms of metal are opaque to electrons and the viruses are seen as suspended in a dark background of metal atoms. This technique has been in use since the 1950s. Many viruses were discovered using this technique and negative staining electron microscopy is still a valuable weapon in a virologist's arsenal. Traditional electron microscopy has disadvantages in that viruses are damaged by drying in
18876-708: The week since 26 February 2020, in Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), the frequency of the podcast having been gradually reduced from April 2020 until becoming weekly from 15 June 2020. Drosten then shared his spot on the Podcast with fellow virologist Sandra Ciesek with either being interviewed by a science journalist of the NDR every two weeks to keep the weekly schedule of the podcast while allowing Drosten more time to focus on his research work. The last Podcasts with Drosten were 29 March 2022 and 12 January 2023. At
19019-506: The years before PCR was invented immunofluorescence was used to quickly confirm viral infections. It is an infectivity assay that is virus species specific because antibodies are used. The antibodies are tagged with a dye that is luminescencent and when using an optical microscope with a modified light source, infected cells glow in the dark. PCR is a mainstay method for detecting viruses in all species including plants and animals. It works by detecting traces of virus specific RNA or DNA. It
19162-453: Was a counterpart to Lothar Wieler , head of the State's Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, in consulting to German federal and state authorities. In Februar 2022 he stated that the "ideal" immunity would be achieved by complete Covid vaccination (with 3 doses) and one or more Covid infections on top of that. In September 2022 he stated that a strong Covid wave would occur before December and that
19305-469: Was appointed despite criticism from European socialists over his hard-right affiliations. Other notable appointments included Kaja Kallas as EVP for Foreign and Security Policy, and Henna Virkkunen as EVP for Tech Sovereignty and Digital Technologies. The Commission also introduced new roles like the Commissioner for Defence and Security and the Commissioner for the Mediterranean. The commission
19448-624: Was criticized by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung as excessive German deference to authority. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Drosten had a strained relationship with the German tabloid newspaper Bild that culminated early in summer 2020 with the tabloid's critical article about Drosten's study on Covid infection rates among children. Drosten was In 2003, Drosten was one of the co-discoverers of SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Together with Stephan Günther [ de ] ,
19591-595: Was first described in 1970 by Temin and David Baltimore independently. In 1983 Luc Montagnier 's team at the Pasteur Institute in France, first isolated the retrovirus now called HIV. In 1989 Michael Houghton 's team at Chiron Corporation discovered hepatitis C . There are several approaches to detecting viruses and these include the detection of virus particles (virions) or their antigens or nucleic acids and infectivity assays. Viruses were seen for
19734-399: Was forced by the Parliament to resign in 1999; a central role was played by Édith Cresson . These frauds were revealed by an internal auditor, Paul van Buitenen . That was the first time a College of Commissioners had been forced to resign en masse , and represented a shift of power towards the Parliament. However, the Santer Commission did carry out work on the Treaty of Amsterdam and
19877-413: Was made of particles, he called it a contagium vivum fluidum (soluble living germ) and reintroduced the word virus . Beijerinck maintained that viruses were liquid in nature, a theory later discredited by Wendell Stanley , who proved they were particulate. In the same year, Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosch passed the first animal virus, aphthovirus (the agent of foot-and-mouth disease ), through
20020-554: Was not widely adopted until the 1950s when poliovirus was grown on a large scale for vaccine production. Another breakthrough came in 1931 when the American pathologist Ernest William Goodpasture and Alice Miles Woodruff grew influenza and several other viruses in fertilised chicken eggs. In 1949, John Franklin Enders , Thomas Weller , and Frederick Robbins grew poliovirus in cultured cells from aborted human embryonic tissue,
20163-529: Was seen as giving the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. Delors and his College are also considered as the " founding fathers of the euro ". The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his second term in 1992: "Mr. Delors rescued the European Community from the doldrums. He arrived when Europessimism was at its worst. Although he was a little-known former French finance minister, he breathed life and hope into
20306-407: Was set up from the start to act as an independent supranational authority separate from governments; it has been described as "the only body paid to think European". The members are proposed by their member state governments, one from each. However, they are bound to act independently – free from other influences such as those governments which appointed them. This is in contrast to the Council of
20449-488: Was thought that all infectious agents could be retained by filters and grown on a nutrient medium—this was part of the germ theory of disease . In 1898, the Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck repeated the experiments and became convinced that the filtered solution contained a new form of infectious agent. He observed that the agent multiplied only in cells that were dividing, but as his experiments did not show that it
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