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.
Human astroviruses are a leading viral cause of the stomach bug—think vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. It often impacts young children and older adults, leading to vicious cycles of sickness and malnutrition, particularly for ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 3, 2025
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A team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology has discovered a new class of bacterial mobile genetic elements that use giant viruses—known as jumbo phages—to move between cells. The work, published in the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 3, 2025
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28
At the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)—Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), biologist Jessie Vandierendonck has been investigating new, alternative treatments to combat bacterial infections using (bacterio)phages, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 31, 2025
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212
A team led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has described a sustained and unprecedented decrease in the abundance of marine viruses in the northwestern Mediterranean over the last two decades. The finding, published ...
Ecology
Oct 30, 2025
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Through cutting-edge methods and advanced artificial intelligence analysis, UNC Charlotte researchers leading a multidisciplinary team across four universities have successfully resolved the entire genome of "Phage G," the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 29, 2025
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The microbiome—the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live quietly in our body—plays a crucial role in shaping human health by providing a variety of micronutrients necessary for vital functions. But these tiny ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 29, 2025
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25
Collaborating researchers have made a breakthrough discovery regarding the intricate defense systems of bacteriophages (phages)—viruses that can specifically target harmful bacteria without harming human cells and beneficial ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 28, 2025
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For billions of years, bacteria have waged an ongoing arms race against viruses, evolving many defense mechanisms against the infectious invaders. Now, these evolutions may offer innovative ways for humans to fight viruses, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 27, 2025
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The arrival of agriculture coincided with a sharp rise in a gene variant that protected against the virus that causes winter vomiting, researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University report after analyzing ...
Evolution
Oct 24, 2025
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109
West Nile Virus was once a nominal concern for Utahns but since August 2003, when it was first detected in the Beehive State, infections in Utah residents have steadily risen.
Ecology
Oct 20, 2025
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