Research Centers
The Institut Pasteur web site currently shows 10 major research departments in 2008. These are:
Cell Biology and Infection, Developmental Biology, Genomes and Genetics, Immunology, Infection and Epidemiology, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Parasitology and Mycology, Structural Biology and Chemistry, Virology
There are also non-research departments devoted to records and archives maintenance, maintenance of historical micro-organism cultures, publications and the library.
In addition to the isolation of HIV-1 and HIV-2, in the recent past researchers at the Pasteur Institute have developed a test for the early detection of colon cancer, produced a genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B and a rapid diagnostic test for the detection of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium which is implicated in the formation of stomach ulcers. Other research in progress includes the study of cancer and specifically the investigation of the role of oncogenes, the identification of tumor markers for diagnostic tests and the development of new treatments. One area of particular interest is the study of human papilloma viruses (HPV) and their role in cervical cancers. Researchers are currently focusing on the development of various vaccines against many diseases including AIDS, malaria, dengue fever and the Shigella bacterium.
Currently, an extensive line of research aims at determining the complete genome sequences of several organisms of medical importance, in the hope of finding new therapeutic approaches. The Institute has contributed to genome-sequencing projects of the common yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an organism which was so important for Louis Pasteur's history), completed in 1996, Bacillus subtilis completed in 1997, Mycobacterium tuberculosis completed in 1998.
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