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.

The Baltimore Classification System

Enterovirus 71 Infection

Virology History

Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV)

What is Antigenic Shift?

The Role of the CD38 Receptor in the Progression of HIV

Poliovirus Structure

How HIV Evades the Immune System

Enterovirus 71 Structure

What is Antigenic Drift?

Virology Molecular Biology & Viral Therapy

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Influenza A Infection

Viral Diseases

What are Baculoviruses?

Poliovirus Infection

Enterovirus 72 Method of Infection

Latest Virology News and Research

Study reveals evidence of silent mpox exposure in healthy Nigerians

New evidence suggests that mpox may be circulating quietly among healthy Nigerians, with some infections occurring without the symptoms that typically trigger detection by health authorities.

5 Feb 2026

Breakthrough enables continuous laboratory growth of human norovirus

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report in Science Advances a breakthrough in human norovirus (HuNoV) research.

4 Feb 2026

Herpes virus infection softens cell nuclei through internal mechanical changes

A recent international research project has used advanced microscopy techniques and computational modeling to discover why virus infection changes the nuclear structures and biomechanical forces affecting the nucleus.

3 Feb 2026

Bat viruses in Indochina Peninsula reveal viral diversity, PEDV origins, and spillover risks

Bats, critical reservoirs of viruses with significant cross-species spillover risks, have long been understudied in the Indochina Peninsula.

2 Feb 2026

Sporadic Nipah virus cases highlight importance of global surveillance

The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing eminent human and animal virologists from more than 90 Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in over 40 countries dedicated to advancing research, collaboration, and pandemic preparedness, is monitoring reports of a Nipah virus outbreak in India and emphasizes that such cases, while very concerning and serious, are not unexpected or unprecedented. Sporadic Nipah virus infections have occurred almost annually in parts of South Asia, particularly in India and Bangladesh, and do not indicate a new or escalating global threat.

30 Jan 2026

Navigating the multi-dimensional world of modern cancer research

An enduring challenge for the study of human cancer is just how complex it is: how many different ways there are for cancers to originate, progress, and spread in the people who are diagnosed with them.

30 Jan 2026

Measles resurgence: Global Virus Network calls for urgent action

The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing eminent human and animal virologists from more than 90 Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in over 40 countries dedicated to advancing research, collaboration, and pandemic preparedness, expresses deep concern regarding the ongoing resurgence of measles in the United States and around the globe.

20 Jan 2026

The challenge of tracking asymptomatic Mpox

The mpox virus appears to be circulating silently in parts of Nigeria, in many cases without the symptoms typically associated with the disease, according to new research led by scientists from the University of Cambridge and partners in Nigeria. The findings may have implications for controlling the spread of the disease.

20 Jan 2026

Interferon response key to fighting rhinovirus infections in nasal passages

When a rhinovirus, the most frequent cause of the common cold, infects the lining of our nasal passages, our cells work together to fight the virus by triggering an arsenal of antiviral defenses.

19 Jan 2026

Giant amoeba-infecting viruses offer new clues to the origin of eukaryotic life

The origin of life on Earth becomes even more fascinating and complex as we peer into the mysterious world of viruses.

8 Jan 2026

Bat-borne virus linked to unexplained illnesses in Bangladesh

Infectious disease researchers have identified Pteropine orthoreoviruses (PRVs), a group of newly emergent bat-borne viruses, as the culprit for previously unexplained illness in five Bangladeshi patients, one of whom eventually died with unexplained illness.

5 Jan 2026

Study reveals how Ebola and Marburg viruses damage the human gut

Ebola (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV) are highly lethal viruses that cause severe disease in infected patients by extensively damaging the body.

11 Dec 2025

AI helps researchers to find a new way to fight the monkeypox virus

With the help of artificial intelligence, an international team of researchers has made the first major inroad to date towards a new and more effective way to fight the monkeypox virus (MPXV), which causes a painful and sometimes deadly disease that can be especially dangerous for children, pregnant women and immunocompromised people.

10 Dec 2025

Global Virus Network outlines priorities as Marburg virus emerges in Ethiopia

The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition of leading human and animal virologists in more than 40 countries dedicated to advancing pandemic preparedness through research, education and training, and global health solutions, today issued a statement on the newly confirmed outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in southern Ethiopia.

27 Nov 2025

Study uncovers how a specific immune cell may contribute to HIV persistence

Researchers from the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered how a specific type of immune cell may contribute to the persistence of HIV infections.

24 Nov 2025

Global Virus Network awards first pandemic preparedness research grants across four continents

The Global Virus Network (GVN) is pleased to announce that, for the first time, it is awarding pandemic preparedness research grants, totaling $160,000, to GVN scientists across four continents.

20 Nov 2025

Researchers identify a previously unknown cellular mechanism crucial to coronavirus replication

The discovery could serve as a starting point for antiviral strategies. A research team at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has identified a previously unknown cellular mechanism crucial to the replication of coronaviruses: c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) is activated during infection with human coronavirus HCoV-229E and mediates the phosphorylation of the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein, an integral step in the virus cycle.

7 Nov 2025

Newly identified microglia subtype offers protection against Alzheimer’s disease

In Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of dementia, microglia-the brain's immune defenders-can act as both protectors and aggressors, shaping how the disease progresses.

5 Nov 2025

Undergraduate researcher uncovers molecular secrets of HPV’s cancer-causing mechanisms

When Sean Fletcher walked into Sam Biswas' Medical and Molecular Sciences (MMSC) lab at the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences during the summer of his first year, he had no research or laboratory experience.

31 Oct 2025

Global Virus Network announces the addition of three new Centers of Excellence

The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition of leading medical virologists representing 80+ Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in 40+ countries, today announced the addition of three new Centers of Excellence: the USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida, USA, the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil, and the Pathogen Research Centre (PaRC) at Western University in Canada.

30 Oct 2025