Giant Viruses Discovered

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown class of megaviruses (Pandoravirus) seemingly found everywhere and of unknown function or effect, some a thousand times larger than a flu virus and with 200 times as many genes with only 6% of those genes known to science.

Ancient DNA in Modern Mammals

Research on 38 different species of mammals have revealed traces of ancient endogenous retrovirus DNA that invaded the genome of a common ancestor some 100 million years ago and has propagated by incorporating its genes into our own.

Drug Kills Multiple Viruses

A new drug named DRACO has been developed that can destroy numerous strains of viruses that infect mammalian cells, the first time a single drug has been effective against a range of viruses.

Bee Virus Spreads

Recent studies have identified the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), spread through pollen transfer, as a factor contributing to colony collapse disorder of American honeybees.

Rinderpest Virus Eliminated

For only the second time in history, humanity has succeeded in eliminating a disease virus completely -- namely, the rinderpest (German for "cattle plague") virus that once killed cattle by the millions and lead to famine among human populations for thousands of years, with the last known case reported in Kenya in 2001.

Human Genes from Virus

A new study reveals that as much as 8% of the human genome contains DNA derived from bornaviruses, RNA viruses whose replication and transcription takes place in the cell nucleus, through a process known as endogenization.

Engineered Viruses Fight Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University have engineered a virus that attacks bacterial defense systems, strengthening the effects of antibiotics.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing health risk, and the development of new antibiotics is slow and expensive. But researchers have developed another solution by engineering existing bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) to attack specific bacterial targets. The engineered viruses attack the SOS system, the DNA repair system that activates when bacteria are exposed to antibiotics that damage DNA. Used with conventional antibiotics, the new viruses undermine the natural defenses of bacteria and prevent them from repairing the damage and surviving to become resistant.

The engineered bacteriophages were tested with three families of antibiotics (quinolones, beta-lactams and aminoglyclosides) in mice and had promising results with all three. The possibility exists of developing an entire "library" of customized bacteriophages to be used in conjunction with existing antibiotics.

These results were published in the March 2nd issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: ScienceDaily