In 1913, for the first time ever, a virus (vaccinia) was grown in cell culture, and then in the 1930s, yellow fever and small pox viruses were grown in cell culture that aimed for vaccine production.

Cell cultures are developed from tissue samples and then disaggregated by mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic methods to extract cells suitable for isolation of viruses. With the recent advances in technology, cell culture is considered a gold standard for virus isolation.