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.
An estimated 38 trillion bacteria live in the human body—and only a small fraction are harmful to our health. However, the harmful ones can cause serious illness, especially when they develop resistance to antibiotics.
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2026
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Researchers have figured out a missing piece of the puzzle of how human cells detect invading viruses and mount an immune response within an hour.
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2026
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Scientists at Cornell University have found a human genetic element in a poxvirus and discovered that it is both an important gene for brain function and a jumping gene capable of moving and inserting itself into genomes. ...
Evolution
Sep 25, 2026
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120
A new tool to mutate bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—provides a "big leap" forward in our understanding of how they function and our ability to harness their full potential.
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2026
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153
Biochemists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are using AI to tackle one of modern medicine's most pressing challenges: the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Using data collected in their lab, biochemistry ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 24, 2026
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AI-predicted protein complex structures for more than 2,800 viruses are now openly available in the AlphaFold Database. To better understand and protect against emerging pathogens, the dataset prioritizes proteomes from viral ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 24, 2026
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U.S. artificial intelligence startup Anthropic on Wednesday unveiled the first discovery from its molecular biology lab, a previously unknown enzyme system spotted by its Claude model and touted by the company as proof that ...
Biotechnology
Sep 24, 2026
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206
CRISPR may be a powerful technology for gene editing, but the system existed in bacteria long before scientists began using it. For billions of years, CRISPR has acted as a natural immune system in bacteria and other microbes, ...
Oxford University researchers have captured the step-by-step assembly of individual virus-like particles, revealing how simple molecular interactions can reliably build these complex biological structures. The results were ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 16, 2026
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77
When you think of viruses, you probably think of flu-like symptoms and quarantines. Humankind has suffered from viral diseases ranging from smallpox to COVID-19, hantavirus and Ebola since the dawn of recorded history.
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 16, 2026
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