Virological Techniques

the aggregate of research methods, equipment, and reagents used in the cultivation of viruses and the study of their properties. Until the beginning of the 1950’s the primary method of cultivating viruses was the infection of animals, including chick embryos, that are susceptible to them. The introduction of the method of single-layer cell (tissue) cultures and the later introduction of organ cultures led to the discovery of hundreds of previously unknown viruses and made it significantly easier to obtain them in pure form and study their physical, chemical, and biological properties. Electron microscopy is used to study the structure of viruses, their component parts, and their intracellular development. Viruses are separated by various methods—ultracentrifuging, adsorption on ion exchangers, and filtration through molecular sieves. The same methods are used to obtain nucleic and protein components of the viruses. The composition of the nucleic acids and proteins of the viruses is determined by physicochemical and chemical methods. Virus proteins are also identified by means of bodies with specific immunities to them. Marking the precursors of nucleic acids (nucleotides) and proteins (amino acids) with radioactive isotopes is done to study the biosynthesis of the component parts of viruses and related problems.