Studies on the infectivity of viral nucleic acids performed in the "Stefan S. Nicolau" Institute of Virology.

The investigations on viral nucleic acids (NA) performed in the Institute of Virology since 1957 refer to the infectivity of NA (RNA or DNA) from large, complex viruses, from RNA viruses (ECHO, MM Coxsackie, etc.), from modified viruses, as well as to the biological activity (oncogenicity and infectivity) of NA from tumors and leukemic tissues of human, murine, bovine and avian origin. Studies are reviewed as regards the action of physical and chemical agents on the behaviour of viral and cellular NA and the implications of the use of such agents in viral vaccine preparation are discussed.