A viral dissemination assay was developed as a fully autologous system that allows the determination of cellular responses to HCMV infection in vitro, using this system we have established that it is possible to interrogate and compare the abilities of CD8+ T cell, CD4+ T cell and NK cells to control the spread and replication of HCMV (51–54). The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is cytomegalovirus infection.