As the world scrambles to control the growing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, new research in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology shows viruses also play a key evolutionary role in mammals' ability to reproduce and survive.
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 7, 2020
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281
Devastated by summer's unprecedented firestorms, Australia's koalas are facing a potentially more serious and enduring existential threat from a fellow mammal—the bat.
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2020
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249
For the past few hundred years, the colorful hair and unique patterns of the so-called "Fancy Mouse" have made them the stars of pet shows in Japan and beyond. Now, scientists have finally revealed the true cause of the genetic ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2019
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32
Retroviruses - the family of viruses that includes HIV - are almost half a billion years old, according to new research by scientists at Oxford University. That's several hundred million years older than previously thought ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 10, 2017
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95
Striking evidence has emerged that an ancient virus previously known only from fossil evidence has persistently infected some humans at very low levels for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. This ancient retrovirus ...
Biotechnology
Apr 4, 2016
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2365
Using molecular modeling and large-scale molecular dynamic simulation, University of Illinois researchers constructed an atomic model of an immature retrovirus.
Biochemistry
Aug 12, 2015
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30
Humans have fewer remnants of viral DNA in their genes compared to other mammals, a new study has found. This decrease could be because of reduced exposure to blood-borne viruses as humans evolved to use tools rather than ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 2, 2015
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362
Retroviruses are important pathogens, which have attacked vertebrate hosts for millions of years. Researchers from Uppsala University and Lund University, now provide new knowledge about the long-term interactions of retroviruses ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 22, 2014
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Retroviruses are important pathogens capable of crossing species barriers to infect new hosts, but knowledge of their evolutionary history is limited. By mapping endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), retroviruses whose genes have ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 25, 2013
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0
(Phys.org) —A team of researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has developed a method for mass producing T cells that have been reprogrammed using stem cell technology to target and destroy cancerous tumors. ...
