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MUTANT VIRAL CLOUDS. "They form extremely complex mutant clouds termed viral quasispecies, which can acquire features not explainable from the individuals that compose the ensemble." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470015902.a0000436.pub3/abstract?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage= View in LinkedIn

ERROR RATE DRIVES DIVERSITY. "Evolution of RNA viruses and some DNA viruses can be extremely rapid, fuelled by limited template-copying fidelity of the replicating polymerases." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470015902.a0000436.pub3/abstract?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage= View in LinkedIn

"VIRUSES are transmissible deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) genetic elements that require a cell for multiplication. Viruses are extremely diverse and ubiquitous in nature. They evolve in continuous interaction with their host cells and organisms, following the general Darwinian principles: genetic variation, competition among variant forms and selection of the most fit variants in a given environment. Viruses probably had an ancient origin and have survived as agents of gene transfer and promoters of cell variation." https://lnkd.in/dStPB6v View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE contemplates the phenomenal rates of infectious viral evolution. The combination of extraordinary mutation rates and lightening quick reproduction rates, viruses can outrun their host defenses quickly. Studies of influenza and AIDS suggest that early infections can be boom-and-bust, but as the epidemic progresses, it naturally slows due to limited host availability and selective pressures. Meet some of the most successful creatures on planet earth. View in LinkedIn

GENE FOUNTAIN. “We identified thousands of potentially functional putative genes that arose rapidly and evolved from non-autonomous MULE sequences in Oryza.” (MULEs = Mutator-like transposable elements; Oryza = a type of crop plant). http://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-016-0954-8 View in LinkedIn

REMARKABLE ROLE. “Due to the high abundance of MULEs and their remarkable functional roles in genome evolution, it is imperative to elucidate the origination, evolutionary processes, and regulatory mechanisms of MULE-derived genes in plant genomes.” (MULEs = Mutator-like transposable elements). http://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-016-0954-8 View in LinkedIn

MASSIVE REGULATORS. "Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) represent a class of small non-coding RNAs (typically 19–23 nucleotides) which act by annealing to partially complementary binding sites present on the 3' untranslated regions (UTR) of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) leading to inhibition of protein translation or by inducing mRNA decay. In mammals, miRNA regulate tissue-specific protein expression and are involved in virtually all cellular processes. Up to one-third of mammalian mRNAs are susceptible to miRNA-mediated regulation." https://lnkd.in/dRP_E_K View in LinkedIn

PAST BIASES. "Patterns of viral genetic variation will also be affected by selection acting on viral phenotypes. Although viruses can differ with respect to many phenotypes, phylodynamic studies have to date tended to focus on a limited number of viral phenotypes." https://lnkd.in/dDjCWve View in LinkedIn

DEAR READERS, your readership of my posts proves that you have an appetite for deeply technical subjects that are not dumbed-down, in a world of sound-bites and diluted science. This has been a test balloon to see how far you will go, and has surpassed my greatest expectations. This is a high-flying biological-themed journal club. Thank you all, as I love doing this!! View in LinkedIn

ULTRA-QUICK GENERATION TIMES. "Many viruses, especially RNA viruses, rapidly accumulate genetic variation because of short generation times and high mutation rates. Patterns of viral genetic variation are therefore heavily influenced by how quickly transmission occurs and by which entities transmit to one another." https://lnkd.in/dDjCWve View in LinkedIn