Viruses have no metabolism of their own and must therefore infect host cells in order to replicate. Contact between the virus and the cell surface is a crucial first step, which can also prevent ...

Bacteriophages, or phages, viruses that selectively target and infect bacteria, have drawn growing attention for their potential use in a host of biotechnological processes to benefit humankind, from ...

How flu viruses enter cells has been directly observed thanks to a new microscopy technique with the potential to revolutionize research on membrane biology, virus–host interactions and drug discovery ...

Scientists have finally watched influenza viruses break into living human cells in real time, catching the microscopic invaders as they latch on, glide across the surface and slip inside. Instead of a ...

The penetration of viruses into cells can now be tracked with unprecedented accuracy thanks to an innovative design for pseudoviruses. Pseudoviruses resemble impostors: although harmless, they are ...

Herpes simplex virus partially liquifies the tightly packed, gel-like interior of human cell nuclei to copy itself faster, a ...

Over the last century, humans have experienced multiple severe viral outbreaks, including the Spanish flu and other influenza epidemics, HIV, SARS-CoV, MERS, Ebola, and the recent SARS-CoV2 pandemic.

A new kind of microscope is giving scientists a way to watch life inside cells with a clarity that feels almost unfair. Instead of choosing between seeing big structures or tiny particles, researchers ...

Using a tiny, spherical glass lens sandwiched between two brass plates, the 17th-century Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to officially describe red blood cells and sperm cells ...