Researchers have made a significant step forward in understanding how gut bacteria, and specifically a newly discovered virus ...

For much of modern biology, scientists argued that viruses are not alive, pointing to a basic limitation: they cannot make proteins on their own and must depend entirely on the cells they infect for ...

A giant virus discovered in Japan is adding fuel to the provocative idea that viruses helped create complex life. Named ushikuvirus, it infects amoebae and shows unique traits that connect different ...

Human DNA is not always making us function in ways we understand. Some of our genome is just there, and we’re not sure what it does. In fact, 8% of our DNA are viruses our ancestors caught one day and ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

“Our analyses show that the historical [human Rhinovirus] A genome represents an extinct lineage closely related to HRV A19 ...

The unusual cases of pneumonia began to appear in midwinter, in China. The cause, researchers would later learn, was a coronavirus new to science. By March, the infection began to spread to other ...

A scientist harvests H7N9 virus growing in bird eggs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received samples of the virus from China. — James Gathany/CDC/Douglas E. Jordan / (CC0 1.0) A ...

In an unprecedented scientific achievement, researchers have managed to revive viruses that remained frozen for an approximate 50,000 years. The study not only advances our understanding of ancient ...

Giant viruses might not be visible to the naked eye, but their presence in oceans could shape the future of marine ecosystems—and even human health. In a groundbreaking new study published in Nature ...