Modelling Blue Tongue

A large 3D model of the Blue Tongue virus has been created by Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) engineering researchers at  Warwick University.

The model could help biologists devise new ways to combat the virus and protect millions of livestock from infection.

The WMG University of Warwick researchers based their model on data provided by the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright, and from Oxford University. The Warwick team used rapid prototyping technology, normally used to create highly accurate 3D copies of components for a range of manufacturing processes, to create an accurate 3D model virus that is 5,200,000 times the size of the real thing.

Dr Greg Gibbons, who leads the University of Warwick’s WMG’s rapid prototyping team, is working with Prof Peter Mertens, head of the Arbovirus Research Group at the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright, and Robert Esnouf of Oxford.

'Research collaboration between engineers and biologists is rare although we have worked with Oxford and the IAH before. The physical model we’ve created is based on the same technology we use to quickly and cheaply create models of, for example, car parts; used by manufacturers to develop designs and test products before going into full-scale production,' Dr Gibbons said.