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.
New antivirals and vaccines could follow the discovery by Australian researchers of strategies used by viruses to control our cells. Led by Monash University and the University of Melbourne, and published in Nature Communications, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 5, 2025
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University of Queensland researchers have captured the first high-resolution images of the yellow fever virus (YFV), a potentially deadly viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes that affects the liver. The research was published ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 5, 2025
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A new method vastly improves on the existing approach for single-cell genetic sequencing, enabling scientists to read the genomes of individual cells and viral particles in the environment more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 5, 2025
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A study published in Communications Biology sheds new light on the relationship between bats and dangerous viruses. Led by researchers at the University of Oklahoma, the study shows that, contrary to widespread assumptions, ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 4, 2025
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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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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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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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70
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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