In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, ...

Antibiotic resistance is a global health challenge that could overtake cancer mortality within a few decades. In a new study, researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, show that the emergence of ...

Secondary infections caused by bacteria or viruses during hospital care remain a long-standing global challenge, despite advances in modern medicine. In particular, mixed bacterial-viral infections in ...

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the Western world and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Age, diet and lifestyle are known risk factors. However, in most cases we ...

Penn State scientists uncovered an ancient bacterial defense where dormant viral DNA helps bacteria fight new viral threats. The enzyme PinQ flips bacterial genes to create protective proteins that ...

The idea that a single-celled bacterium can defend itself against viruses in a similar way as the 1.8-trillion-cell human immune system is still “mind-blowing” for molecular biologist Joshua W. Modell ...

University of Toronto researchers have expanded our understanding of bacterial immunity with the discovery of a new protein that can both sense and counteract viral infections. In the new study, ...

Pseudomonas bacteria infected by different mutations of a jumbo phage. The dot in the middle is the shield created by the phage to protect its DNA after it has infected the bacterial cell. Image by ...

As a general rule, most people want to avoid viruses, which are at the root of illnesses like colds, the flu, chickenpox and many a stomach bug. But what about a virus that doesn’t make people sick — ...

Jumbo phages belong to a group of viruses that attack bacteria. They inject their DNA and then reproduce by taking over the cell’s DNA-copying machinery. Eventually, a phage makes so many copies of ...