Unexpected viral 'fossils' found in vertebrate genomes

Over millions of years, retroviruses, which insert their genetic material into the host genome as part of their replication, have left behind bits of their genetic material in vertebrate genomes. In a recent study, published ...

AI may predict the next virus to jump from animals to humans

Most emerging infectious diseases of humans (like COVID-19) are zoonotic—caused by viruses originating from other animal species. Identifying high-risk viruses earlier can improve research and surveillance priorities. A ...

When viruses infect bacteria

(PhysOrg.com) -- Viruses are the most abundant parasites on Earth. Well known viruses, such as the flu virus, attack human hosts, while viruses such as the tobacco mosaic virus infect plant hosts.

Flu jab for bacteria

Viruses can wreak havoc on bacteria as well as humans and, just like us, bacteria have their own defence system in place, explains Professor John van der Oost, at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting. Uncovering ...

New molecule has potential to help treat genetic diseases and HIV

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists at The University of Texas at Austin have created a molecule that's so good at tangling itself inside the double helix of a DNA sequence that it can stay there for up to 16 days before the DNA liberates ...

How bacterial cell recognizes its own DNA

It may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that bacteria have an immune system - in their case to fight off invasive viruses called phages. And like any immune system - from single-celled to human - the first challenge of ...

The extraordinary evolution of REVs

A new study by Anna Maria Niewiadomska and Robert Gifford, of The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, reveals that reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REVs), which originated in mammals, spread to birds as a result of ...

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