The African swine fever virus (ASFV) laboratory, directed by Dr. Yolanda Revilla, studies the complex viral and cellular mechanisms that occur during ASFV infection. The natural target cell of this virus is exclusively porcine monocytes and macrophages, so the viral and cellular factors that determine its tropism are a focus of attention in our laboratory. Another relevant objective is the molecular mechanisms involved in ASFV virulence, which are directly related to the control that the virus exerts on different branches of the immune response of the infected animal, and, in particular, on the innate response by regulating type I IFN, as we have described in the group. In addition, we are interested in generating vaccine candidates against ASFV based, fundamentally, on live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) and, very recently, also based on only partially replicative prototypes, which constitutes a first in the field and would be a great advance in terms of safety. To this end, we addressed the study of virus-host interaction using cell biology, biochemical, microscopy and cytometry techniques, together with the generation of recombinant viruses using CRISPR-Cas9 technology (adapted to ASFV biology by Dr. Daniel Pérez Núñez, senior postdoc in the group), as well as their genetic characterization using NGS techniques such as Illumina and Nanopore. We also collaborate actively with other research centers and companies, both in Spain, Europe and Asia, to analyze and evaluate the behavior of ASFV in vivo, as well as the protective immune response of the different vaccine prototypes.