Making sense of the viral multiverse

In November of 2019—likely, even earlier—a tiny entity measuring just a few hundred billionths of a meter in diameter began to tear apart human society on a global scale. Within a few months, the relentless voyager known ...

New coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) mapped out

Jean and Peter Medawar wrote in 1977 that a virus is "simply a piece of bad news wrapped up in proteins." The 'bad news' in the SARS-CoV-2 case is the new coronavirus carries its mysterious genome in the form of a very long ...

Stuttering DNA orchestrates the start of the mosquito's life

All organisms have DNA, the genetic material that provides a blueprint for life. The long double-helix-shaped DNA molecules in the body's cells are first translated into RNA molecules and then translated into proteins that ...

Chemists race to decode RNA of new coronavirus

As scientists around the world race to decode the coronavirus that has caused more than 15,000 deaths in a matter of months, a group of University of Chicago chemists are focusing on understanding how the virus's RNA works—which ...

Cleaving through the heart of viral infections

A novel CRISPR/Cas system that can efficiently attack and destroy several prolific plant viruses has been developed by KAUST using tobacco plants and is now being extended to rice and other crops.

New tool monitors real time mutations in flu

A Rutgers-led team has developed a tool to monitor influenza A virus mutations in real time, which could help virologists learn how to stop viruses from replicating.

Bacteria engineered to protect bees from pests and pathogens

Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin report in the journal Science that they have developed a new strategy to protect honey bees from a deadly trend known as colony collapse: genetically engineered strains of ...

Newly discovered protein gives signal for virus infection

Viruses have been part of animals and humans for eons. When viruses invade a cell, they can infiltrate the nucleus with their genome and become part of the genome of the infected organism. Viruses transfer their genes between ...

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