Endosymbionts, organisms that may live inside of another cell, can be infected with viruses. An example is Wolbachia, which lives inside the cells of insects and nematodes, and is infected with Wolbachia phage WO. It's always been a puzzle how viruses of endosymbionts pass through the host cell to infect ...

I spoke with Eva Harris of the University of California, Berkeley, on the state of Zika virus in Nicaragua. https://youtu.be/VUU0SjPtO8s

In this episode of Virus Watch, we explore the finding that Zika virus infects the testis of mice, causing damage to the organ, reduced sperm production, and less fertility. The important question: does the same happen in humans? https://youtu.be/dQCuhSqsW7o

On episode #414 of the science show This Week in Virology, Michael Diamond visits the TWiV studio to talk about chikungunya virus and his laboratory's work on a mouse model of Zika virus, including the recent finding of testicular damage caused by viral replication. You can find TWiV #414 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen ...

When viruses cross species, serial transmission may lead to the selection for mutations that confer improved replication or transmission in the new host. Identifying such mutations in human viruses is extremely difficult: we cannot conduct the appropriate experiments in humans, and often do not have viral isolates spanning the time from spillover through ...