Basic virology

Pithovirus: Bigger than Pandoravirus with a smaller genome

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A new virus called Pithovirus sibericum has been isolated from 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost. It is the oldest DNA virus of eukaryotes ever isolated, showing that viruses can retain infectivity in nature for very long periods of time. Pithovirus was isolated by inoculating cultures of the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellani with samples taken in the year 2000 from 30 meters below …

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MERS-coronavirus in dromedary camels

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Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), first identified in the fall of 2012 in a Saudi Arabian patient, has since infected over 180 individuals, causing 77 deaths. Antibodies to the virus and the viral genome have been found in dromedary camels in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, implicating those animals as the source of human infections. A new study reveals that …

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Virologia en Español clase #9 – Transcripción reversa e integracion

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En esta sesión hablaremos acerca de virus que codifican por una enzima llamada transcriptasa reversa. Revisaremos los ciclos de replicación de los retrovirus y los hepadnavirus, y como estos son capaces de copiar DNA a partir de RNA, incluyendo metodos tan barrocos como la iniciación y el intercambio de templados. Tambien incluiremos una discusión acerca …

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Yet another avian influenza virus, H10N8, infects humans

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To the collection of avian influenza viruses known to sporadically infect humans – H5N1, H7N9, H7N2, H7N3, H7N7, H9N2, and H10N7 – we can now add H10N8, recently found in two individuals in China. Avian influenza virus H10N8 was first detected in tracheal aspirates from a 73 year old woman who was hospitalized in November …

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