Viruses

Even though we’ve learned a lot about this relative of smallpox, some mysteries remain due to a lack of political will.

A new study reveals that bacteria can fight viruses in a surprisingly elegant way that has no known counterpart in more complex life.

Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist who became a lifeline for the worried and the curious during the pandemic, thinks that nasal spray vaccines could be the next needed breakthrough in our fight against the coronavirus.

While it’s understandable to focus on the diseases affecting humans, it’s important to study how our illnesses may affect animals.

Studies that map the adaptive value of viral mutations hint at how the COVID-19 pandemic might progress next.

No matter how much we’d like to eradicate SARS-CoV-2, it may be better to settle for other forms of control.

Scientists have reported large DNA structures in some archaea that defy easy categorization.

The DNA of some viruses doesn’t use the same four nucleotide bases found in all other life. New work shows how this exception is possible and hints that it could be more common than we think.

Other diseases with long-term symptoms can help us understand how COVID can affect us long after the virus itself is gone.