Modelling Baculovirus Infection of Insect Cells in Culture

Infection of insect cells with baculovirus is a potentially attractive means for producing both viral insecticides and recombinant proteins. The continuation of mathematical modelling studies such as those reviewed in this paper are essential in order to realise the full potential of the system. Through mathematical models it is possible to predict complex behaviours such as those observed when infecting cells at low MOI or when propagating virus in a continuous culture system. A purely empirical analysis of the same phenomena is very difficult if not impossible.The present three models are - despite their complexity and the effort that has gone into developing them - all first generation models. They summarise, to a large extent, our present quantitative understanding of the interaction between baculovirus and insect cells, when looked upon as a black box system. The binding and initial infection processes are still quantitatively poorly understood and further work in this area is much needed. On the longer term, a second generation of models is likely to consider interior processes such as viral DNA and RNA accumulation in much more detail using a structured model of the infection cycle.