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Viral Evolution
Our Earthbound definitions of life could leave us blind to the Universe’s strangest forms.
Differences in certain avian and mammalian proteins explain why avian influenza doesn't (typically) infect humans.
SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in humans in 2019. Despite much noise generated by lab leak proponents, the evidence indicates a natural origin.
Artificial intelligence can forecast the behavior of viruses and quickly make vaccines to thwart them.
EBT-101 is not the only candidate for an HIV cure. Stem cell transplants, medications, and other CRISPR therapies are being researched.
CRISPR, stem cells, and even cancer drugs are helping shape an AIDS-free future.
The technology could yield "made-to-order resistance genes" to protect crops against pathogens and pests.
Researchers estimate there may be as many as ten million trillion trillion phages on Earth — that's 10 with 30 zeros after it.
A secret to a long, healthy life may lie in the diversity of gut viruses, which can supercharge bacterial metabolism and resist disease.
Viruses, it turns out, can block one another and take turns to dominate.
It weakens the bacteria so that the immune system can destroy it.
About 8% of our genome is made of leftover viruses from our ancestors' infections.
Biotechnology can convert enemy viruses into anti-cancer mercenaries.
The spray uses snippets of DNA to gum up virus replication.
HIV mutates rapidly, which has made the development of a vaccine an enormous challenge for decades. Finally, we might have one.
The antibodies elicited by the "S2 vaccine" not only neutralize COVID's multiple strains but also coronaviruses that cause the common cold.
This isn't America's first rodeo with monkeypox. In 2003, the virus swept across America thanks to a shipment of exotic animals.
What you need to know about this smallpox cousin.
COVID-19 and other microbes have shed light on disease spillover from animals to humans, but we can also spillback disease to wildlife.
We don't know with 100% certainty where SARS-CoV-2 first came from or how it first infected humans. But not all options are equally likely.
There is no rule that will force Omicron or another COVID variant to become less deadly over time, but there is reason for hope.
Ignoring a scientific truth doesn’t change it, even when the consequences are deadly. “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?” Many of us, as children, […]
The only doubts are completely unreasonable. Where did the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, come from? Over the past few weeks, there’s been a tremendous push — largely among politicians but also […]
It occurred naturally, and scientists know this for certain. Starting in late 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, began infecting human beings for the very first time. Discovered in samples […]
Here are the best answers science has to a myriad of commonly asked questions. Over the past 12 months, the status of humans on planet Earth has changed dramatically. The […]
Now is not the time to panic. But it’s the perfect time to get informed. The typical human body is made out of some 10²⁸ atoms distributed across approximately 100 […]