PCR
The Polymerase Chain Reaction is like a molecular photocopy. It is important to detect very small amounts (e.g. pediatric populations) of virus and can be used to detect HIV before antibodies form.
Flow Cytometry
This test uses a laser to excite and sort cells. It is often used in immunology research to understand how an intervention works on a cell type (eg.CD8, CD4) . To learn more, check out the video by Dr. Louise Leyre.
IPDA
The Intact Proviral DNA Assay, detects virus without deletions. It can be useful to understand how much replication competent virus is present.