The focus is on molecular microbiology and virology, and includes topics such as genomics, the gamut of plant and animal
host - pathogen interactions,
host immune responses, characterization and evolution of virulence determinants,
cell cycle and differentiation, symbiosis in plant and animal associations, environmental microbiology, biodiversity and evolution,
population dynamics, sex and mutagenesis, antibiotic resistance and production, drug and vaccine targets, as well as aspects of prion diseases and of fungal and protozoan biology.
Microchimerism is the presence of small
populations of genetically disparate
cells within a
host as a result of transfusion or transplacental trafficking during pregnancy, and may influence
immune tolerance in the recipient.