How to test if a material is antiviral: ISO21702

by Virology Research Services | Mar 15, 2021 | VRS Blog

Contaminated surfaces and materials can be an important route for virus spread. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve become accustomed to regularly wiping down any regularly touched surface. There is also growing demand for next-generation antiviral surfaces able to...

Anti-bacterial but not antiviral? Anti-bacterial agents don’t always work against viruses

by Virology Research Services | Mar 5, 2021 | VRS Blog

 Viruses can spread via surfaces The current coronavirus pandemic has caused an increased demand for anti-microbial treatments that can keep surfaces clean, not only in health care settings but also in our homes and public spaces. The role that surfaces play in the...

Human coronaviruses: A brief history to understand the present

by Virology Research Services | Mar 30, 2020 | VRS Blog

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War) Did you know there are seven human coronaviruses? Humans Coronaviruses discovered in the 1960s Human coronaviruses (CoVs) were unknown to science...

How do you diagnose polyomavirus infection in immunocompromised patients?

by Virology Research Services | Feb 18, 2020 | ASK VRS

In our ASK VRS series, every month we will reply to a question asked through our website or social media. This month, Ali sent us the following question: Can I search for polyomavirus specific IgG and IgM antibodies in cancer patients’ serum or, because they are...

The making of dengue virus: the 3′ UTR

by Virology Research Services | Dec 19, 2019 | Virus of the Month

In the first blog of our dengue series, we described dengue’s 5′ untranslated region (UTR) – a relative short sequence (around 100 nucleotides) that includes two elements essential for genome replication: (i) the promoter for RNA synthesis, (known as stem-loop A), and...