Study reveals mechanisms of fighting pathogenic viruses

Researchers of the KFU Omics Lab have succeeded in deciphering a Phi29-family virus genome. Junior researcher Raihan Shah Mahmud of Kazan Federal University says, "There is an immense number of viruses in nature, hundreds ...

Viral vectors travel longer distances than previously thought

Gene transfer is seen as a hopeful therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. The approach involves using harmless laboratory-produced viruses to introduce important genes into the brain cells. In a study on mice, ...

Hijacking the double helix for replication

For years, scientists have puzzled over what prompts the intertwined double-helix DNA to open its two strands and then start replication. Knowing this could be the key to understanding how organisms - from healthy cells to ...

A virus common among livestock depends on a micro-RNA to replicate

In the ongoing arms race between pathogenic viruses and the cells they infect, each side needs every advantage it can get. One way wily viruses can get a leg up is by subverting the microRNAs (miRNAs) of their host. These ...

Molecular immunity from microbes

A new molecular biology tool derived from a bacterial defense system has been used for the first time by KAUST researchers to demonstrate a novel way to protect plants against viral pathogens.

A CRISPR antiviral tool

Emory scientists have adapted an antiviral enzyme from bacteria called Cas9 into an instrument for inhibiting hepatitis C virus in human cells.

First estimate of total viruses in mammals

Scientists estimate that there is a minimum of 320,000 viruses in mammals awaiting discovery. Collecting evidence of these viruses, or even a majority of them, they say, could provide information critical to early detection ...

Mapping translation sites in the human genome

Because of their central importance to biology, proteins have been the focus of intense research, particularly the manner in which they are produced from genetically coded templates—a process commonly known as translation. ...

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