Virology research

Viruses, nowadays more than ever, pose growing threats to our health, society, and economy. Virus assays suitable for analysing the mechanisms behind virus infections as well as quantifying related diagnostic parameters are key in understanding virus-host interactions and virus pathophysiology 1. In this regard, 50% Tissue Culture Infectious Dose (TCID50) assays are often used to quantify virus titers and are an important tool for the determination of virus infectivity and replication, both crucial parameters for the assessment and investigation of new treatments and therapeutics. 

Virus detection methods are used for different purposes in modern virology research. When applied to epidemiology, they can help to track and control pandemic outbreaks like SARS- CoV-2, swine influenza and many other diseases caused by viruses. But did you know, there are numerous virus detection methods available other than the commonly known PCR? This blog highlights some alternative virus detection methods, which can be run on microplate readers and therefore show great upscaling potential.

We have been accompanied by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for over a year now. Massive efforts have been made worldwide to develop antiviral treatments and vaccines effective against SARS-CoV-2. A comprehensive view of the events of the last few years suggests that virology will probably not lose its importance even after the successful containment of this pandemic. In fact, the increase in occurrence and types of virus outbreaks of recent years, such as SARS-CoV-1, Zika, MERS, Ebola and swine flu, illustrate the growing risks viruses pose not only to our health, but also to our society and economy. 

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.

Vaccines are powerful tools that have completely or nearly wiped out several viral diseases. Other infectious diseases however still await the development of effective vaccines. These diseases include malaria and HIV, whose vaccine development has been going on for decades. Presently, the globe is dealing with a pandemic of the novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the world is clamoring for an effective vaccine. This has spurred a rapid advancement of new vaccine technology into clinical trials and could very well lead to a new era in vaccine development.