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 ...

For decades, biology textbooks have drawn a firm line: viruses are not alive. They lack the machinery to reproduce on their own, they carry no metabolism, and they depend entirely on host cells to ...

Viruses are entirely dependent on their hosts to reproduce. They ransack living cells for parts and energy and hijack the host's cellular machinery to make new copies of themselves. Herpes simplex ...

Genetics tools have advanced significantly in recent decades, and have allowed scientist to sequence all of the genetic ...

BK polyomavirus, or BKPyV, is a major cause of kidney transplant failure. There are no effective drugs to treat BKPyV. Research reveals new aspects of BKPyV replication, offering possible drug targets ...

Researchers identified how the poxvirus protein VITF-3 forms a molecular ring that clamps onto DNA with viral RNA polymerase, ...

The tiny shell protecting the HIV virus resembles a slightly rounded ice cream cone, but there is nothing sweet about it.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne orthoflavivirus that can cause birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition in which head and brain size are significantly reduced at birth. The collective ...

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong have discovered that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a common human virus closely linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), can change the 3D structure of ...

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 ...