Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 24, 2026

Helper virus

A helper virus is a virus that allows an otherwise-deficient coinfecting virus to replicate. These can be naturally occurring as with Hepatitis D virus, which requires Hepatitis B virus to coinfect cells in order to replicate. Helper viruses are also commonly used to replicate and spread viral vectors for gene expression and gene therapy.

Last revised
Jun 24, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗

A helper virus is a virus that allows an otherwise-deficient coinfecting virus to replicate. These can be naturally occurring as with Hepatitis D virus, which requires Hepatitis B virus to coinfect cells in order to replicate. Helper viruses are also commonly used to replicate and spread viral vectors for gene expression and gene therapy.1

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Graham BS, Crowe JE, Ledgerwood JE (2007). "14 - Immunization Against Viral Diseases". In Knipe DM, Howley PM (eds.). Fields Virology (6 ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health. p. 403.