Scientists Discover New Giant Virus That Replicates in a Totally Unique Way

Scientists Discover New Giant Virus That Replicates in a Totally Unique Way

Researchers have discovered a new type of giant virus, which replicates in a way we've never seen before. Stranger still, this entity could give us clues to the very origins of complex life. Viruses sit outside the standard tree of life, as they're made of segments of genetic material rather than cells. That makes it challenging to figure out how they originally evolved, and how they relate to living organisms. Giant viruses – so called for thei…

A Newly Discovered Giant Virus Has A Unique Way Of Hijacking Its Host, Hinting At How These Unusual Viruses Evolved

Giant viruses are one of biology's stranger discoveries whose unusual genes raise a lot of evolutionary questions. A new member shows how even close relatives can evolve radically different ways of hijacking a cell.