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.
For life to function, cell membranes must remain intact. When these fragile barriers are damaged—for instance by heat or viral attack—specialized proteins come to the rescue. Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Heinrich ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 27, 2025
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Waiting is the hardest part. Especially in the case of testing for water or food contamination, which can take days or even a week in some cases for the results, leaving the possibility that people have been unknowingly exposed.
Bio & Medicine
Aug 22, 2025
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119
Researchers have discovered that a virus living inside the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus significantly boosts the fungus's ability to survive stress and cause severe infections in mammals. Removing the virus made the fungus ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 21, 2025
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Researchers at San Diego State University and Michigan State University are shedding new light on how viruses meticulously pack their genetic material — a breakthrough that could help researchers engineer antivirals and gene ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 15, 2025
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61
Similar to humans, plants can become infected with more than one virus at a time, opening the door for more severe infections and new disease variants. But these mixed infections are often under-studied and poorly understood.
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 13, 2025
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19
Montana State University-led research finds that bees with deformed wing virus flew shorter distances, whereas bees with sacbrood virus flew greater distances at higher speeds.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified more than 200 strategies used by bacteria to avoid viral infection. Their findings, published in Cell Host & Microbe, shed light on a microbial "arms race" that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 11, 2025
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Research led by a Swansea University academic has revealed a synthetic glycosystem—a sugar-coated polymer nanoparticle—that can block COVID-19 from infecting human cells, reducing infection rates by nearly 99%.
Bio & Medicine
Aug 11, 2025
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105
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa oceanographers have identified PelV-1, a dinoflagellate-infecting giant virus whose micron-length tail reaches 2.3 µm, stretching current notions of viral architecture.
Earth's atmosphere transports tiny forms of cellular life, such as fungal spores, pollen, bacteria, and viruses. On their journeys, these microorganisms encounter challenging conditions such as cold temperatures, UV radiation, ...
Ecology
Aug 7, 2025
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