the Evolution of VirusesGiant Virusesthe Simplest Bacteriathe Last Universal DNA Molecule.Since viruses are the first form of life on Earth, it can be shown that it was viruses that formed and spread biological life on the planet. The evolutionary tr...
As we explain this week, the pandemic has seen a new set ofbiochemicaland computational tools come to the fore in predicting the evolution of viruses. One approach is called “deep mutational scanning”, which observes random changes in a pathogen’s crucial proteins under laboratory conditions. ...
The success of many viruses depends upon cooperative interactions between viral genomes. However, whenever cooperation occurs, there is the potential for ‘cheats’ to exploit that cooperation. We suggest that: (1) the biology of viruses makes viral cooperation particularly susceptible to cheating; (2...
The evolution of seasonal influenza viruses is an important source of disease burden, as it allows for the reinfection of previously infected or vaccinated individuals Given that 5–15% of the global human population is infected with seasonal influenza viruses each year, it is surprising that new ...
As COVID-19 sweeps the world, related viruses quietly circulate among wild animals. A new study shows how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-1, which caused the 2003 SARS outbreak, are related to each other. The work, published rece
Despite decades of surveillance and pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions, seasonal influenza viruses continue to cause epidemics around the world each year. The key process underlying these recurrent epidemics is the evolution of the viruses to escape the immunity that is induced by prior ...
Viruses are unimaginably varied and ubiquitous. And it is becoming clear just how much they have shaped the evolution of all organisms since the very beginnings of life. In this, they demonstrate the blind, pitiless power of natural selection at its most dramatic. And—for one group of brain...
Mortality from a Viral Perspective A Marriage Made in Hell The Numbers Game Fight to Death: Genes Are the Weapons The Silence of the Viruses Giving up the Viral Ghost The Makings of Virus-Host Compatibility Throwing Light on Virus-Host Evolution Sometimes it Takes More than the Odd Gene Refere...
Viruses have been found to be polyphyletic and to have evolved in a reticulate pattern dominated by genetic recombination. Most major viral lineages (families and genera) have been established by intra-group (heterologous) recombination and the generation of genes de novo . The major lineages of ...
Viruses are unimaginably varied and ubiquitous. And it is becoming clear just how much they have shaped the evolution of all organisms since the very beginnings of life. In this, they demonstrate the blind, pitiless power of natural selection at its most dramatic. And—for one group of brain...