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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Virus-Infecting Virus Fuels Definition of Life Debate


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An electron-scanning microscope image reveals a new type of tiny virus, dubbed Sputnik, attached to a newfound strain of giant virus that was discovered in a Paris water-cooling tower.

In an August 2008 paper describing the find, French scientists suggested that viruses should be formally redefined as living things rather than bags of genes.

Image copyright Didier Raoult/CNRS