"It’s costly, and it needs skills that are not generally available these days," says Dr Mike Catton, the institute's deputy director. "We have a mix of the old and the new, the classical and the cutting edge. I’d say we’re the first among equals – although my colleagues might not like that." Watching monkey kidneys at 3am On Friday a man in his 50s, who was visiting from China and had respiratory symptoms, was brought into the Monash Medical Centre at Clayton. Within hours, a nose swab was under the microscope at the Doherty. The first step was to check the virus' genetic code. By 2.15am on Saturday the team had it – and it was a perfect match for the Wuhan coronavirus.

As the announcement of Australia’s first case of coronavirus reverberated around the nation, the team were already onto the next step: trying to grow the virus in a flask. This was a far more difficult challenge, but crucial. A live virus allows other researchers to develop more effective tests for it. Loading "It’s a key step in the development of vaccines," says Dr Catton.

Labs around the world had tried without success to do it. The Chinese have grown a sample but have not yet shared it with the international community. But the Doherty had been preparing for this for years. Many viruses are fussy, and will grow only in a certain type of cell. The lab’s freezers house a huge collection of cells from humans and animals. Among them is the institute’s secret weapon: a line of monkey-kidney cells. "This particular monkey cell line is almost the best cell line there is, because it just grows so many viruses," says Dr Julian Druce, head of the Doherty’s virus identification lab. Dr Catton says: "It’s an art, and Julian is the artist."

Material from the infected man was placed in a flask filled with a layer of monkey cells. The Doherty’s lab is extremely secure, so the easiest way for the scientists to watch their test was via a video camera on top of the flask. Many team members would get up at night to watch the camera feed online. "That was a bit of fun," says Dr Catton. "If you’re into that sort of thing – I guess maybe we need to get out more." The researchers watched the cells. If they died, it was a sign the coronavirus was active. Vision released by the institute shows the transparent cells turning black – a few at first, and then more and more until the dish is filled with death. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video