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viruses

Latest Articles

Micrograph of archaeal cells.
genomics

Plasmid, Virus or Other? DNA ‘Borgs’ Blur Boundaries.

By Jordana Cepelewicz +1 authors
Allison Whitten
July 21, 2021
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Scientists have reported large DNA structures in some archaea that defy easy categorization.

Electron microscopy of T4 bacteriophages.
molecular biology

DNA Has Four Bases. Some Viruses Swap in a Fifth.

By Jordana Cepelewicz
July 12, 2021
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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.

Quantized Columns

How ‘Long COVID’ Keeps Us Sick

By Tara C. Smith
July 1, 2021
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Other diseases with long-term symptoms can help us understand how COVID can affect us long after the virus itself is gone.

A spinning animated globe with the COVID-19 genome sequencing rates for some countries labeled.
COVID-19

A Lack of COVID-19 Genomes Could Prolong the Pandemic

By Puja Changoiwala
June 28, 2021
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Genomic surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can help control the current pandemic and prevent future ones. But the process is marred by insufficient data and geographic inequities.

Illustration of DNA spooling around the histones in a classic nucleosome, with diverse animal life in the background.
molecular biology

DNA’s Histone Spools Hint at How Complex Cells Evolved

By Viviane Callier
May 10, 2021
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New work shows that histones, long treated as boring spools for DNA, sit at the center of the origin story of eukaryotes and continue to play important roles in evolution and disease.

Illustration of researchers trying to reconstruct the shape of an epidemic curve from its distorted shadow on the floor.
COVID-19

Chasing the Elusive Numbers That Define Epidemics

By Jordana Cepelewicz
March 22, 2021
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Most modeling efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic have sought to address urgent practical concerns. But some groups aim to bolster the theoretical underpinnings of that work instead.

Quantized Columns

How to Understand COVID-19 Variants and Their Effects on Vaccines

By Tara C. Smith
February 25, 2021
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Researchers are tracking the different strains of SARS-CoV-2 and studying how they spread through our population and our bodies.

Looping video shows a constantly shifting set of curves and a moving keyhole view of the pandemic coronavirus.
COVID-19

The Hard Lessons of Modeling the Coronavirus Pandemic

By Jordana Cepelewicz
January 28, 2021
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In the fight against COVID-19, disease modelers have struggled against misunderstanding and misuse of their work. They have also come to realize how unready the state of modeling was for this pandemic.

2020 in Review

The Year in Biology

By John Rennie
December 23, 2020
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While the study of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the most urgent priority, biologists also learned more about how brains process information, how to define individuality and why sleep deprivation kills.


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