BK polyomavirus, or BKPyV, is a major cause of kidney transplant failure. There are no effective drugs to treat BKPyV. Research reveals new aspects of BKPyV replication, offering possible drug targets ...

Researchers have shown for the first time how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which causes an aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, initiates DNA replication in host cells. University ...

The replication of potentially harmful adenoviruses can be significantly reduced in human cells in cell culture by using the so-called CRISPR-Cas9 system ("gene scissors"). This method, which is used ...

The cold sore-causing Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1) hijacks human cells and reconfigures its DNA within just an hour after infection, according to a new study that may help tackle the pathogen. Viruses ...

University of Pittsburgh researchers have shown for the first time how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which causes an aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, initiates DNA replication in ...

The story of life’s beginnings gets stranger when you look closely at viruses. These tiny entities seem to sit at the edge of biology. They carry genetic material, but they cannot make proteins on ...

This story is part of our series on viroids and virusoids, small infectious RNAs. The story is also the second installment in a series on hepatitis D virus, a virusoid-like pathogen that causes ...

Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the large-scale smuggling of DNA between species. Biologists have understood the broad contours of the rules of ...

In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, comparable to a mechanism in eukaryotic cells. The finding challenges the dogma ...

A giant DNA virus pulled from a Japanese freshwater pond is forcing scientists to rethink how complex cells first acquired their defining feature: the nucleus. Named ushikuvirus, the newly ...