(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Vampire Viruses

(NOVEMBER-2023)

Vampire Viruses

• They have been recently discovered on US soil for the first time.

About

• Vampire Viruses are pathogens that latch onto other viruses in order to replicate themselves.
• They emerge when a bacteriophage attaches to a soil-based virus, utilizing its "life" for independent survival.
• This viral relationship between two pathogens is called a satellite and a helper.
• Satellites depend on both their host organism and helper virus to complete its life cycle.
• The satellite virus depends on the helper virus to build the protective shell that covers its genetic material, called a capsid or to help it replicate its DNA.
• Most satellite viruses contain a gene that allows them to integrate into the host cell's genetic material after they enter the cell.
• This enables the satellite to reproduce whenever a helper enters the cell from then on.
• The host cell also copies the satellite's DMA and its own when it divides.

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Courtesy: Science Reporter