Cell Cultures: A Laboratory Tool for Studying Viruses

Abstract

When you hear the word virus, you might think of diseases like rabies, influenza, or COVID-19. Viruses are organisms that must infect living cells to reproduce. Studies done on cells grown in the lab, called cell cultures, have contributed significantly to our understanding of viral diseases and to the development of treatments and vaccines. In the laboratory, cells can be grown in layers or in three-dimensional systems. By infecting cell cultures with viruses, scientists can study various aspects of the infection, such as how the virus gets into the cells or how the cells respond to infection. Knowledge gained from infecting cell cultures with viruses has helped scientists to vastly improve human health!