Influenza viruses are among the most likely triggers of future pandemics. A research team from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) and the Medical Center—University of Freiburg has ...

Despite their name, giant viruses are difficult to visualize in detail. They are too big for conventional electron microscopy, yet too small for optical microscopy used to study larger specimens. Now, ...

Current calibration methods rely on artificially constructed DNA structures or specific cellular features, each with significant drawbacks. DNA-based rulers require complex chemical synthesis and only ...

The standard expansion microscopy protocol involves several key steps (Fig. 1): (1) fixation of the specimen, (2) labelling of biomolecules of interest, (3) anchoring chemical linkers to biomolecules, ...

A new, nano-scale look at how the SARS-CoV-2 virus replicates in cells may offer greater precision in drug development, a Stanford University team reports in Nature Communications. Using advanced ...

We’ll understand if you’re puzzled by the eerie image below. It’s a tiny piece of the Lassa virus, which can double a person over in pain, make their head swell and, in some cases, quickly result in ...

Besides serving as food for certain microbes, viruses perform some helpful functions that remain poorly understood. A ciliate, a type of single-celled microbe, swims next to Sphagnum moss, amplified ...

Viruses have no metabolism of their own and must therefore infect host cells in order to replicate. Contact between the virus and the cell surface is a crucial first step, which can also prevent ...