Natural History and Experimental Models

This chapter contains sections titled: The chimpanzee as a model for the study of NANBH in the pre‐HCV era Physico‐chemical properties of the NANB agent The role of the animal model in the discovery of hepatitis C virus Genetic variability The contribution of the animal model to the study of the natural history of HCV infection Monoclonal HCV infection in chimpanzees HCV and fulminant hepatitis Interactions among hepatitis viruses in chimpanzees HCV and hepatocellular carcinoma Immunity to HCV Functional analysis of the HCV genome The future