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 ...

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 ...

In the murky waters of Ushiku-numa, a freshwater pond just northeast of Tokyo, a microscopic drama has been playing out for eons, entirely unseen. Here, single-celled amoebae drift through the silt, ...

High-throughput neutralisation tests could lead to a better understanding of the evolution of human influenza.

An ancient viral infection may have given animals the tools to become fast, coordinated and smart, a study has found. According to a paper published Thursday in Cell, complex nervous systems arose in ...

When the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged, many scientists thought it would evolve slowly, like other coronaviruses. But that was one of the first big surprises from the virus ...

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 ...

In a recent study published in the journal Cell, a group of researchers in Germany developed and validated a comprehensive fitness model that forecasts Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 ...

Scientists studying the virus’s continuing evolution, and the body’s immune responses, hope to head off a resurgence and to better understand long Covid. By Apoorva Mandavilli Apoorva Mandavilli has ...

Researchers used a simulator that incorporates AI technology to uncover the survival strategy of the coronavirus in response to human behavioral changes such as staying home and isolating infected ...