The virus of the month: HIV
Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIVs) result from cross-species transmissions of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) that infect African primates. One such event thought to have occurred just after the turn of the 20th century gave rise to the HIV-1 group M, which...
Measuring infectious virus: the plaque assay
The amount of virus contained in a sample is crucial information for anyone working with viruses. But how can you quantify viruses? One method is the plaque assay, which specifically measures infectious virus particles. The assay involves adding viruses to permissive...
Is Virus Research Safe?
In light of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, throughout the past 2 years, the question of whether virus research is safe has been widely discussed in the mainstream media, on social media, and indeed by the scientific community. Eminent scientists worldwide have...
The virus of the month: Zika
Zika virus (ZIKV) was first identified in monkeys in Uganda in 1947. Later, in 1952, it was also found in humans in Uganda and Tanzania. Yet it was only in 2007 that the first Zika outbreak was reported, and the disease only became known worldwide in 2016, during a...Page 11 of 33