Tag: Viruses

In one simple step, viruses can be turned into sophisticated structures with novel optical or biomedical properties.

Researchers have demonstrated a simple, one-step process in which genetically engineered viruses arrange themselves into extremely ordered patterns with distinctive properties, such as color or strength. The technique could be used to make novel optical devices or biological scaffolds to grow soft tissue, teeth, and bone.

Fighting viruses, defending the net It's been 25 years since the first PC virus (Brain A) hit the net, and what was once an annoyance has become a sophisticated tool for crime and espionage. Computer security expert Mikko Hyppצnen tells us how we can stop these new viruses from threatening the internet as we know it.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2010) HIV-AIDS. SARS. Ebola. Bird Flu. Swine Flu. Rabies.
These are emerging infectious diseases where the viruses have jumped from one animal species into another and now infect humans.
This is a phenomenon known as cross-species transmission (CST) and scientists are working to determine what drives it.

ScienceDaily (July 4, 2010) Modern marsupials may be popular animals at the zoo and in children's books, but new findings by University at Buffalo biologists reveal that they harbor a "fossil" copy of a gene that codes for filoviruses, which cause Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers and are the most lethal viruses known to humans.

Published recently in the online journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, the paper demonstrates for the first time that mammals have harbored filoviruses for at least tens of millions of years, in contrast to the existing estimate of a few thousand.

ScienceDaily (Jan. 15, 2010) It is known that viral "squatters" comprise nearly half of our genetic code. These genomic invaders inserted their DNA into our own millions of years ago when they infected our ancestors. But just how we keep them quiet and prevent them from attack was more of a mystery until EPFL researchers revived them.