How did viruses evolve? Are they a streamlined form of something that existed long ago, or an ultimate culmination of smaller genetic elements joined together? Aa Aa Aa The evolutionary history of ...

The origin of life on Earth becomes even more fascinating and complex as we peer into the mysterious world of viruses. Said to have existed since living cells first appeared, these microscopic ...

Researchers have proposed a new evolutionary model for the origin of a kingdom of viruses called Bamfordvirae, suggesting a billion-years evolutionary arms race between two groups within this kingdom ...

Ushikuvirus is a newly identified giant virus that infects amoebas, adding to a growing group of oversized viruses that scientists believe may have played an important role in the emergence of complex ...

Using genomics, evolutionary biologists test several hypotheses on the origin of viruses. New evidence suggests they may have emerged more times than previously thought. Corroborating the virus-first ...

Scientists estimate that the earliest biological entities began to appear on Earth more than 4 billion years ago. "There was a sort of primordial soup from which certain organic molecules were formed.

As humans alter the planet’s climate and ecosystems, scientists are looking to Earth’s history to help predict what may unfold from climate change. To this end, massive ice structures like glaciers ...

In 2003, Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus, also known as mimivirus, was the first giant virus to be described. It's larger than many bacteria, and was found in a water sample from a hospital cooling ...

Evolutionary model for the origin of the major lineages of eukaryotic Bamfordvirae. The viral ancestor is inferred to have been an exogenous virus, while the rve-integrase was captured independently ...