Viruses occupy a strange no-man's-land between the living and the nonliving. In order to reproduce, they must infect a living host and hijack its resources. But while it is understood that this parasitic relationship can ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 6, 2017
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For the first time, scientists know what happens to a virus' shape when it invades a host cell, thanks to an experiment by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Understanding ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 12, 2016
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A research team has established how a virus exploits one of its host's proteins when the virus is about to replicate its genetic material during an infection. The discovery may potentially form the basis for the development ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 11, 2015
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A new analysis supports the hypothesis that viruses are living entities that share a long evolutionary history with cells, researchers report. The study offers the first reliable method for tracing viral evolution back to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2015
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Viruses are as simple as they are "smart": too elementary to be able to reproduce by themselves, they exploit the reproductive "machinery" of cells, by inserting pieces of their own DNA so that it is transcribed by the host ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 25, 2013
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Powdery mildew is one of the most dreaded plant diseases: The parasitic fungus afflicts crops such as wheat and barley and is responsible for large harvest shortfalls every year. Beat Keller and Thomas Wicker, both plant ...
Biotechnology
Jul 14, 2013
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High-performance thermoelectric materials that convert waste heat to electricity could one day be a source of more sustainable power. But they need to be a lot more efficient before they could be effective on a broad scale ...
Nanophysics
May 30, 2013
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Long ago, when life on our planet was in its infancy, a group of small single-celled algae floating in the vast prehistoric ocean swam freely by beating whip-like tails, called flagella. It's a relatively unremarkable tale, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 11, 2012
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Within optical microchips, light finds its way through channels, waveguides, made of silicon. Light from a glass fiber, for example, is led through a structure of optical channels with splitters and couplers. Silicon is the ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 21, 2012
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Researchers at Montana State University have found a method for creating more robust, temperature-tolerant enzymes that can be used as tools in the process of genetic manipulation.
Biotechnology
Sep 7, 2012
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