I know that virus titers of stored viruses goes down in time due to damage.

So the infectious units per mL (IU/mL) will decline.

What I could imagine is that although the IU/mL goes down, the GC/mL will decline at a much lower rate or not at all.

The rationale behind it is that while the virus will be damaged and no longer able to infect a target cell, the RNA genome could possibly still be reverse transcribed and the genomic titer (GC/mL) measured by qPCR.

If so, when you measure the GC/mL one week after storing a virus and determine the GC/mL again a year later. the GC/mL could be similar while the IU/mL has declined significantly.

Does anyone know by experience or knows a publication that this is the case?

Thank you in advance!