The origin of life on Earth becomes even more fascinating and complex as we peer into the mysterious world of viruses. Said to have existed since living cells first appeared, these microscopic ...

Neanderthals may have caught the same viruses that cause modern colds, cold sores, and some cancers. It's possible ancient humans introduced these unfamiliar viruses to their relatives. Understanding ...

Learn how a newly discovered virus disrupts its host’s nucleus in ways that echo how complex cells may have formed billions ...

For more than three decades, Ötzi the Iceman has been a kind of time capsule for researchers—an Alpine body preserved so well that it keeps producing scientific “firsts.” Now, a new analysis suggests ...

Researchers have discovered a tube-shaped structure that forms temporarily in a certain type of virus to deliver its DNA during the infection process and then dissolves after its job is completed. The ...

CRISPR-Cas9 is a customizable tool that lets scientists cut and insert small pieces of DNA at precise areas along a DNA strand. This lets scientists study genes in a specific, targeted way. (NHGRI via ...

Ushikuvirus is a newly identified giant virus that infects amoebas, adding to a growing group of oversized viruses that scientists believe may have played an important role in the emergence of complex ...

A study conducted in Spain found monkeypox virus DNA in various body fluid samples. Here a medical laboratory technician picks up from a fridge a bucket with suspected monkeypox samples to be tested ...

Using a technique called “DNA origami,” researchers created traps that encase large viruses—such as SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, and Zika—in hopes of preventing them from infecting cells. A study ...

Viruses are entities that have to infect other cells in order to replicate. They may have genomes that are made of DNA or RNA. We are still discovering new types of RNA viruses, as shown in two new ...