Viruses are invisibly small, but they influence every aspect of our lives. 

The resources in this website have been developed by scientists and artists to help you visualise the microscopic viruses which shape the world you see around you. 

Microbes such as bacteria and viruses are too small for us to see directly. Viruses are particularly small – so small that even the most powerful light microscopes can't examine them in detail. But this doesn’t mean we can’t learn about them! Scientists have developed many methods for studying viruses. Electron microscopes and X-ray crystallography can reveal details of viruses that light microscopes can’t spot. Other methods can give us a partial picture of viruses – what they’re made of, or what shape their proteins are – which we can combine to make detailed models of what a virus would look like, if it was big enough to see. 

The resources on this website, developed by the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) with The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) will let you picture the invisibly small viruses which surround you. You’ll learn about how we combat the viruses that make us sick, and you will also see the beauty of this microscopic world, a world that is hidden right in front of you. 

Explore the resources below to discover the fascinating world of viruses!