Multiplication of influenza virus under conditions of interference

Abstract

ALTHOUGH it is well established that inactivated viral particles interfere with the multiplication of active virus, the intimate mechanism of the phenomenon is unknown. The fundamental experiments, confined to the comparison of final yields, did not show whether the observed depression resulted from complete incapacitation of some cells, from an overall lowering of cellular output, or merely from the slowing-down of the process. Similarly, it is not clear whether the challenging inoculum enters all cells at random, or only those which have the potential ability to yield virus. Some of these questions have been answered by the kinetic study of interference, and the results will be reported in full elsewhere; here we propose to point out some peculiarities of the growth curves, as they reveal possible pitfalls in the planning and interpretation of interference experiments. © 1952 Nature Publishing Group.