Rutgers-Camden To Study Coronavirus Biology

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — Rutgers University–Camden will receive $188,253 in federal funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the biology of new coronavirus and the way the virus interacts with the human body, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-1) announced on Monday.

The goal of the project titled “RAPID: Factors Contributing To Sequence Conservation in the SARS-CoV-2 Genome” is to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The funding will help the college find regions of active mutation and relative stability in the virus.

Different parts of the virus genome mutate at different rates and this can affect its potential resistance to anti-viral drugs and vaccines. The college is hoping their work will help unravel the mechanisms that drive variability and conservation in the virus.

Those mechanisms can be critical for diagnostics and treatment of the coronavirus, as well as of possible next waves of coronavirus diseases. The college is hoping to help prevent future strains and spread of the coronavirus.

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“To fight this disease, we must first understand it. The work being done at Rutgers–Camden will advance our knowledge of how the coronavirus infects patients and how the disease spreads — information we desperately need,” Norcross said. “COVID-19 has already taken the lives of far too many people, including many New Jerseyans. This funding will power the vital research being done right in our backyard to help us combat the virus and save lives.”

“Research innovation happens every day at Rutgers University–Camden, where our faculty and students generate original thinking and new ideas that advance our state and our nation,” Rutgers University–Camden Chancellor Phoebe A. Haddon said. “This grant from the National Science Foundation will allow Dr. Grigoriev to advance the type of cutting-edge biohealth research that is critical to our society. We thank and applaud Congressman Norcross for his commitment to growing South Jersey as a hub for innovation and for his support of Rutgers–Camden.”

Rutgers-Camden Biology Professor Andrey Grigoriev was the principal investigator for the grant.

"Three coronavirus outbreaks have occurred in the past 17 years and may occur again. These three viruses have differences in their RNA sequences but their genomes are organized in similar ways,” Grigoriev said. “I am very pleased to receive the NSF support for this research, which may help us decide on our next moves against this pandemic and future events of this nature. Thinking ahead should be the rule of our decision-making today since we all may be paying a high price for it later."

NSF supports research, innovation and discovery that provides the foundation for economic growth in this country.

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