Microbiology

The virus outbreaks of recent years, such as those from Zika, MERS-CoV, Swine influenza, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, illustrate the risk they pose, and the intensive research virology requires. Virus assays are the tools used to study viral replication, enzymes, cell entry mechanisms and many more. Here, we explain frequently used virus assays and introduce microplate-based methods that can accelerate research due to their high throughput.

Do you remember what you did in your microbiology practical during your studies? Clearly, I cannot recall every detail, but I still know that measuring the OD₆₀₀ was an essential part of it: Draw a sample, place it into a cuvette, measure the OD at 600 nm and record the value along with the time. Ten years have passed since then and yet capturing the OD₆₀₀ to determine microbial growth is more common than ever. Reason enough for us to shed light on why the method is used so intensively, how the method developed and what should be considered in the OD₆₀₀ measurement.

From an engineer’s point of view, biology has a frustrating lack of standardized parts. Usually, a microprocessor designed in drafted software is produced and functions exactly the way it’s supposed to once it has been stamped, fabbed and machined. The goal of Synthetic Biology is to be able to provide solutions to problems in the same way an electronic circuit can be engineered.

Before the availability of antibiotics, infection was a major cause of morbidity for which there were few effective treatments. Consequently, mortality due to infection was high. 

Bacterial and fungal growth, drug compound solubility, protein aggregation, immunoprecipitation, antibody-antigen interaction, and polymerization monitoring, do you know what all these methods have in common?