Scientists reveal the shape of a protein that helps retroviruses break into cells
The biggest mass extinction in Earth history some 251 million years ago was preceded by elevated extinction rates before the main event and was followed by a delayed recovery that lasted for millions of years. New research by two University of Washington scientists suggests that a sharp decline in atmospheric oxygen levels was likely a major reason for both the elevated extinction rates and the v...Two new retroviruses—transmitted from animals—identified
For patients with cancer of the mouth and throat, surgery is a frequent course of treatment, often leading to speech and swallowing dysfunction and external scarring. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, have completed two studies ?the most comprehensive and largest to date ?that demonstrate the effective use...New human retrovirus originated in mice
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have discovered a new retrovirus in humans that is closely related to a cancer-causing virus found in mice. Their findings describe the first documented cases of human infection with a retrovirus that is native to rodents. The researchers discovered the virus in patients with a rare type of prostate cancer. The patients in th...Scientists resuscitate a 5 million-year-old retrovirus
A team of scientists has reconstructed the DNA sequence of a 5-million-year-old retrovirus and shown that it is able to produce infectious particles. The retrovirus--named Phoenix--is the ancestor of a large family of mobile DNA elements, some of which may play a role in cancer. The study, which is the first to generate an infectious retrovirus from a mobile element in the human genome, is cons...Safe Production of High-Titer Retrovirus
Stratagene We describe a set of vectors that can be used with any MMLV-basedretroviral vector to produce viral supernatants that have titers that areconsistently greater than or equal to 10 cfu/ml...