In the vast and often unseen world of microscopic life, a recent discovery may force scientists to rethink what it means to be alive. Nestled inside a tiny plankton cell, researchers found a ...

Researchers discover a hidden virus in gut bacteria that could explain colon cancer and help detect it earlier ...

The so-called “circle of life” dictates that if a living thing exists, it’s probably food for something else. Viruses, however, have historically managed to escape this unofficial rule. Although ...

The single-celled organism Naegleria fowleri ranks among the deadliest human parasites. Researchers have now discovered viruses that infect this harmful microbe. Named Naegleriavirus, these belong to ...

Marine viruses deploy a sophisticated Trojan horse maneuver that enables them to dismantle the energy systems of ocean bacteria and use the breakdown products for self-replication. This finding comes ...

Berkeley — For 11 years, Jill Banfield at the University of California, Berkeley, has collected and studied the microbes that slime the floors of mines and convert iron to acid, a common source of ...

When people talk about the coronavirus, they sometimes describe this invisible entity as if it has a personality and even a conscience. If you ask a biology or medical student what a virus is, they ...

In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, comparable to a mechanism in eukaryotic cells. The finding challenges the dogma ...