HIV and Aging – Perhaps Not as Dramatic as We Feared?

The global virome: not as big as we thought?

Viruses likely infect all organisms, serving to unknown extent as genetic vectors in complex networks of organisms. Environmental virologists have revealed that these abundant nanoscale entities are global players with critical roles in every ecosystem investigated. Curiously, novel genes dominate viral genomes and metagenomes, which has led to the suggestion that viruses represent the largest ...

Nocturnal colour vision--not as rare as we might think.

The dual retina of humans and most vertebrates consists of multiple types of cone for colour vision in bright light and one single type of rod, leaving these animals colour-blind at night. Instead of comparing the signals from different spectral types of photoreceptors, they use one highly sensitive receptor, thus improving the signal-to-noise ratio. However, nocturnal moths and geckos can disc...

Life, but not as we know it.

Living systems are perhaps the most fascinating examples of chemistry in action. Molecules assemble into biomachinery that can carry out complex tasks, making life possible. But how did it all begin? This question can be tackled from a geological perspective by surveying the possible conditions under which key biomolecules might have emerged on early Earth. Alternatively, a systems-biology appr...

Life, but not as we know it

species of chameleon, Furcifer labordi, in Madagascar that spends most of its life as an egg. in Madagascar and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, have found a chameleon with a remarkable lifestyle and report the results in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (published online). Although there are almost limitless theoretical combinations of ...

Databases, But Not As We Know Them