Researchers have used laser-powered ‘optical tweezers’ to reveal a universal motor mechanism used by viruses for packaging their DNA into infectious particles. Researchers have used laser-powered ...

There’s nothing retro about retrons, which are bacterial molecules that produce DNA. Although retrons ordinarily serve an immune function in bacteria, they can, upon modification, acquire a genetic ...

Enzymes that cut DNA at specific sites are called endonucleases; these enzymes play many roles in genomic replication, fidelity, and defense. The initial discovery of restriction endonucleases in the ...

Scientists have demonstrated a new potential way to edit the genomes of bacteria in complex environments, by equipping viruses to hunt them down and insert the CRISPR gene-editing system. In nature, ...

New methodology and tools provide an opportunity to watch in unprecedented detail as a phage attacks a bacterium. As antibacterial resistance continues to render obsolete the use of some antibiotics, ...

Researchers at the University of Southampton have used advanced imaging techniques to uncover how bacteria use a mechanism called Kiwa to defend themselves against phage viruses. Phages are seen as a ...

As antibacterial resistance continues to render obsolete the use of some antibiotics, some have turned to bacteria-killing viruses to treat acute infections as well as some chronic illnesses. Graham ...