Virology

Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy.

What is Virology?

Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents, including, but not limited to, their taxonomy, disease-producing properties, cultivation and genetics.

Viral Diseases

Virology History

Virology Molecular Biology & Viral Therapy

The Baltimore Classification System

How HIV Evades the Immune System

Influenza A Infection

Poliovirus Infection

Poliovirus Structure

Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV)

What is Antigenic Shift?

What is Antigenic Drift?

See more featured articles »

Enterovirus 71 Infection

Enterovirus 71 Structure

Enterovirus 72 Method of Infection

What are Baculoviruses?

The Role of the CD38 Receptor in the Progression of HIV

Latest Virology News and Research

WHO warns of ORVO as outbreaks surge and health risks rise

Oropouche virus poses a growing public health risk, with recent outbreaks in Brazil and Cuba. The WHO report calls for urgent global preparedness measures.

13 Jun 2025

Scientists unlock potential of cytokine adjuvants in mRNA vaccines

In the quest to design vaccines that better help the body's immune system fight disease, scientists are always looking for more tools for their arsenal.

6 Jun 2025

New COVID variant NB.1.8.1 spreads across continents amid calls for vigilance

The Global Virus Network (GVN) is closely monitoring the emergence of a newly identified SARS-CoV-2 variant, NB.1.8.1, a sublineage of the Omicron family. This variant was first identified in January 2025 and has rapidly spread across Asia and into other regions, including parts of the United States.

6 Jun 2025

Study uncovers how HSV-1 disables the brain's antiviral defense

Infections caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can lead to HSV-1 encephalitis-a rare but deadly condition that inflames the brain.

3 Jun 2025

Fungal antiviral responses controlled by RNA editing and transcription factor dynamics

The expression of symptoms of viral infections is a byproduct of complex virus-host molecular pathways.

23 May 2025

UK surveillance identifies traces of West Nile virus in mosquitoes

Fragments of West Nile Virus have been identified in mosquitoes collected in the UK for the first time, according to a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitoring programme designed to understand the emergence and transmission of vector-borne disease in the UK.

23 May 2025

Wastewater monitoring offers new tool for cervical cancer prevention

Scientists in Uruguay have found genotypes of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) linked to cervical cancer in urban wastewater, saying it could help inform disease prevention efforts.

22 May 2025

Infrared vision achieved through new nanoparticle contact lenses

Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light.

22 May 2025

Common anti-inflammatory drugs may aid virus spread

New research shows an unintended and unfortunate side effect of common drugs. They can simply help viruses spread.

19 May 2025

Scientists take key step toward developing a preventative HIV vaccine

Worldwide, an estimated 40 million people live with HIV. Two-thirds of this group on the African continent. In 2023, more than 600,000 people died from HIV-related causes and 1.32 million were infected.

15 May 2025

Wastewater surveillance detects measles in Houston before cases are reported

An innovative outbreak detection program that tracks disease-causing viruses in wastewater identified the measles virus in Houston samples collected in early January 2025, before cases were reported.

12 May 2025

Long-acting HIV drug emerges from decades of research and advocacy

In the hunt for a remedy, when the baton is passed from dedicated academic scientists to an innovative company to trusted community advocates, outcomes for society can be especially powerful.

8 May 2025

New three-part antivenom cocktail protects against the world’s deadliest snakes

Scientists developed a groundbreaking antivenom cocktail using antibodies from a hyperimmune human donor and a small-molecule inhibitor that protected mice from deadly bites of 19 diverse snakes. This approach could lead to a universal antivenom for the world’s most dangerous snakes, overcoming the limitations of current species-specific treatments.

2 May 2025

Urgent action needed to close gaps in global pandemic preparedness

The Global Virus Network (GVN) is highly concerned that the world is unprepared for the next pandemic and has not incorporated the lessons learned from COVID-19.

30 Apr 2025

Global Virus Network urges action to prevent H5N1 pandemic

Today, the Global Virus Network (GVN), representing eminent human and animal virologists from 80+ Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in 40+ countries, published a comprehensive analysis and call-to-action in The Lancet Regional Health-Americas on the North American avian influenza virus, or H5N1, outbreak. The GVN calls on world governments to address the threat of H5N1 avian influenza by enhancing surveillance, implementing biosecurity measures, and preparing for potential human-to-human transmission.

29 Apr 2025

Weill Cornell Medicine leads effort to catalog the normal human virome

A major new effort at Weill Cornell Medicine seeks to catalog the normal human virome, the immense ecosystem of viruses that lives in and on us.

25 Apr 2025

Unlocking the power of MDA5 protein modifications in antiviral defense

Cleveland Clinic virology researchers have found that a specific protein modification to the immune protein MDA5 is key to how human bodies detect and respond to viruses and viral replication.

10 Apr 2025

Source Bioscience acquires Cambridge Clinical Laboratories

Source BioScience UK Ltd, an industry-leading provider of genomic services and histopathology diagnostics, today announced it had completed the acquisition of Cambridge Clinical Laboratories (CCL), a leading Cambridge-based provider of clinical, personalized healthcare testing services.

10 Apr 2025

New STITCHR tool offers a promising step forward for gene therapy

Investigators from Mass General Brigham and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have developed STITCHR, a new gene editing tool that can insert therapeutic genes into specific locations without causing unwanted mutations.

9 Apr 2025