Viruses are acellular infectious agents that depend entirely on host cellular machinery for replication and are therefore studied as a central topic in microbiology, virology, and infectious disease research. They consist minimally of a nucleic acid genome (DNA or RNA, single- or double-stranded, linear or circular) enclosed in a protein capsid, and in many cases a host-derived lipid envelope containing viral glycoproteins. Viral classification and research focus on genome organization, replication strategies, host range, tropism, mechanisms of cell entry and egress, immune evasion, and evolutionary dynamics, as well as their roles in pathogenesis, horizontal gene transfer, and biotechnology applications such as vectors and phage therapy.
Bacteria and the viruses that infect them—known as phages—coexist in soils, oceans and living organisms. Scientists have long thought this coexistence reflects a microscopic version of an evolutionary arms race: As parasites ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 21, 2026
0
13
Viruses are sneaky intruders, hijacking the internal machinery of host cells and replicating out of sight. Understanding these dynamics is the first step to developing effective antiviral strategies that could stop infections, ...
Biotechnology
Oct 21, 2026
0
9
A research team led by distinguished professor Giuseppe Pezzotti at the Biomedical Engineering Center, Kansai Medical University (Japan), has demonstrated that differences in the molecular structures of viral RNA can be captured ...
Biotechnology
Oct 20, 2026
0
9
Humans throughout history have invented a variety of ways to fight back against troublesome bacteria. But bacteria live in a dangerous world too. The human body and other bacteria-rich environments abound with bacteriophages, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 19, 2026
0
14
Scientists know a great deal about how lions hunt, breed and survive, but the microscopic communities living inside them have remained largely unexplored. Now, a study of wild lions in Namibia is beginning to change that, ...
Ecology
Oct 18, 2026
0
124
Researchers at the University of Miami have identified a group of previously unknown viruses that bridge an evolutionary gap between viruses and cellular protein compartments, a discovery with implications for both biotechnology ...
Evolution
Oct 15, 2026
0
46
Bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria, have a fiendishly simple purpose in life: attach to a bacterial cell, inject their DNA and then use the host's genetic machinery to reproduce. In doing so, they may have evolved ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 15, 2026
0
27
Scientists have long used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR to make precise changes to DNA. But a different version of the technology, known as Cas13a, targets RNA, the genetic material found in viruses such as HIV. ...
Biotechnology
Oct 14, 2026
0
15
An international team of scientists recently collaborated to identify a mysterious viral disease damaging pepper and tomato crops in Chile.
Plants & Animals
Oct 14, 2026
0
9
Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have uncovered an unusual bacterial immune system that operates in reverse of known defenses. The discovery, published in Molecular Cell, details the mechanics of "type VI retrons"—a counterintuitive ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 13, 2026
0
32
