"We should surely remain calm and not lose our good sense," advised the New Hampshire State Board of Health.
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Topical news snippets about viruses that affect people. And other things.
Curated by
Ed Rybicki
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Scooped by Ed Rybicki onto Virology News |
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"Bacteria have developed a formidable arsenal of sophisticated strategies to neutralize viruses, but phages always seem to find a way to evolve, persist and abound. Studies of the complex evolutionary dynamics between phages and bacteria led to the discovery of a widespread bacterial defence system called CRISPR/Cas. On page 489 of this issue, Seed et al. report the remarkable finding that some phages that infect the bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae have also acquired a functional CRISPR/Cas system in their own genome which allows them to neutralize an unrelated antivirus system in their bacterial host"
Bacteriophage graphic courtesy of Russell Kightley Media
Ed Rybicki's insight:
So many people have pointed this out to me today that I just HAD to do something on it.
This is a seriously big deal, in our understanding of the arms race between viruses and their hosts: here we have a virus that is circumventing a widespread antiviral defence system in bacteria, by using elements of the system against the bacteria - and it can adapt to match its hijacked system to that of the host.
Not only stranger than we imagine; sometimes stranger than we CAN imagine - or just way more sophisticated than we thought. Delete the scoop?
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In the nineteenth century, smallpox ravaged through the United States and Canada. At this time, a botanical preparation, derived from the carnivorous plant Sarracenia purpurea, was proclaimed as being a successful therapy for smallpox infections.
Botanicals: the (partially) unexplored country. Sometimes folk wisdom has pharmaceutical potential. Via Chris Upton + helpers Delete the scoop?
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