A major shortcoming for the traditional cellular and molecular assays used for studying viruses, bacteria, and parasites in the research lab is that they are endpoint assays, providing a mere snapshot of the infection process.

Moreover, many of the traditional assays require labeling, which can reduce their physiological relevance. These assays are also low throughput and laborious, requiring multiple sample handling steps that introduce variability.

In vitro infectious disease studies can greatly benefit from a label-free assay that couples information-rich, real-time kinetics with an easy workflow, high reproducibility, and high_throughput capabilities. This handbook describes how the xCELLigence real-time cell analysis (RTCA) instruments deliver each of these attributes in the context of live cell assays. 

Applications in the Infectious Disease Handbook include:

• Viral titer Determination
• Bacteria: Detection & quantification of secreted toxins
• Bacteria: Host cell interactions
• Bacteria: Biofilms
• Viruses: Titer determination
• Viruses: Neutralizing antibodies
• Viruses: Drug screening
• Parasitic worms