When a new virus emerges, biologists rush to reconstruct its genome—a prerequisite for future diagnostic and vaccine development. The challenge with viral sequencing during an outbreak is that a sample from a patient, like ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 27, 2020
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2
In recent years, giant viruses have been unearthed in several of the world's most mysterious locations, from the thawing permafrost of Siberia to locations unknown beneath the Antarctic ice. But don't worry, "The Thing" is ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 08, 2020
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1576
By analysing virus genomes from over 7,500 people infected with Covid-19, a UCL-led research team has characterised patterns of diversity of SARS-CoV-2 virus genome, offering clues to direct drugs and vaccine targets.
Evolution
May 05, 2020
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1216
Viruses are little more than parasitic fragments of RNA or DNA. Despite this, they are astonishingly abundant in number and genetic diversity. We don't know how many virus species there are, but there could be trillions.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 27, 2020
0
15
Jean and Peter Medawar wrote in 1977 that a virus is "simply a piece of bad news wrapped up in proteins." The 'bad news' in the SARS-CoV-2 case is the new coronavirus carries its mysterious genome in the form of a very long ...
Biotechnology
Apr 09, 2020
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629
The COVID-19 outbreak caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 12 March 2020. It is thought to have been transmitted from wild animals to humans in the Chinese ...
Biotechnology
Apr 03, 2020
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49
As SARS-CoV-2 has spread around the world, its transmission rate has varied alongside variations in its genome, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis. Surveillance of the virus genome may help public ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 03, 2020
1
332
While the microbes in a single drop of water could outnumber a small city's population, the number of viruses in the same drop—the vast majority not harmful to humans—could be even larger. Viruses infect bacteria, archaea ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 23, 2020
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165
New findings from University of Exeter researchers reveal how bacterial immune systems can be harmful for their hosts and explain why they are not found in many bacteria.
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 22, 2020
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26
African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most pathogenic viral diseases in pigs caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). The fatality rate is almost 100%, which brings huge economic losses to the hog industry in countries ...
Biotechnology
Jan 16, 2020
0
7
