Newfound giant virus holds clues to how complex life evolved

For more than two decades, giant viruses have unsettled one of biology’s most fundamental boundaries: the line between simple viruses and complex cells. With genomes rivaling some bacteria, and gene sets that resemble those of eukaryotes (cells with membrane-bound nuclei and other internal compartments), they have forced scientists to rethink how cellular complexity may have emerged. A newly discovered giant virus now sharpens that debate, offering fresh clues about how the defining feature of most complex life, the nucleus, may have evolved.

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Category: Biology, Science

Tags: Virus, Evolution, Life, Cells