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.
A research team has discovered an enhanced CRISPR gene-editing system that could enable targeted delivery inside the human body—a key step toward broader clinical use. Researchers identified a naturally occurring enzyme, ...
Biotechnology
Apr 13, 2026
0
73
Viruses are masters at invading cells thanks to specialized proteins that coat their surfaces. When scientists design vaccines, they often create versions of these viral surface proteins to study how the immune system might ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 13, 2026
0
12
What if the Trojan horse had been pulled to pieces, revealing the ruse and fending off the invasion, just as it entered the gates of Troy? That's an apt description of a newly characterized bacterial defense system that chops ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 10, 2026
0
114
Cases of Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) are extremely rare in humans, but in those who develop disease, the outcome is severe, almost always resulting in fatal encephalitis or inflammation in the brain. This zoonotic virus ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 10, 2026
0
16
A research group has successfully determined, for the first time in the world, the capsid (outer shell) structure of Melbournevirus—a member of the giant virus family—at a resolution of 4.4 Å using cryo-electron microscopy ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 9, 2026
0
11
Like most bacteria, Vibrio cholerae lives under constant attack from viruses. To survive, bacteria equip themselves with antiviral immune systems. Previous work has shown that V. cholerae carries a large genetic element called ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 9, 2026
0
7
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus type 2 is a terrible way for any animal to die, especially creatures as gentle as these. Highly contagious and lethal, it threatens wild and domestic rabbits. First detected in the United ...
Veterinary medicine
Apr 9, 2026
0
14
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered thousands of new proteins that protect bacteria from virus attacks using an AI system called DefensePredictor. What would usually take months ...
Researchers at Umeå University show how tick-borne viruses remodel human cells into virus factories, using an advanced microscopy method. The findings provide new insight into how the virus replicates and matures, knowledge ...
Biotechnology
Apr 7, 2026
0
23
Permanently wiping out a disease is tricky business. Polio, measles, mumps—all have effective vaccines, yet they persist in certain pockets around the world. To date, the World Health Organization considers just two viruses ...
Biotechnology
Apr 7, 2026
0
67
