Human DNA is not always making us function in ways we understand. Some of our genome is just there, and we’re not sure what it does. In fact, 8% of our DNA are viruses our ancestors caught one day and ...

In evolutionary biology, all life on Earth is theoretically part of a single phylogenetic tree, indicating common ancestry.

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 ...

The herpesvirus can manipulate our DNA with far more precision than previously thought. The virus condenses and changes the shape of our genetic material to hijack the host genes needed for ...

The abundance of viral DNA was measured in DNA sequenced from blood and saliva samples in biobanks, revealing strong correlations with age, sex and dozens of genetic variants. Genetic analyses ...

Genetics tools have advanced significantly in recent decades, and have allowed scientist to sequence all of the genetic material they find in any sample. That has enabled researchers to discover giant ...

Viruses rely on hosts to survive. But some viruses are more effective at reproducing than others. Now, new research has shown that the herpes virus, more specifically herpes simplex virus type 1 ...

In the game of survival, you can't always go it alone. Tiny algae living in the harsh conditions of the world's polar oceans appear to be better able to withstand the cold, high salinity, and extreme ...

A tiny, four-fingered 'hand' folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (CBS) -- A tiny hand crafted from DNA in a lab in Illinois may be able to help researchers get a hold of viruses and isolate them. Scientists at the University of Illinois ...

DNA robots are emerging as tiny programmable machines that could one day deliver drugs, hunt viruses, and build molecular-scale devices. By borrowing ideas from traditional robotics and combining them ...