www.washingtonpost.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
23.45.108.250
Public Scan
Submitted URL: https://apple.news/AEgWe2pFVRtq2osKJ1QLJNw?articleList=A-hdXlNSXQOq3liyQI3VD6g
Effective URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/11/13/mindflayer-virus-discovered-maryland/
Submission: On November 17 via api from US — Scanned from DE
Effective URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/11/13/mindflayer-virus-discovered-maryland/
Submission: On November 17 via api from US — Scanned from DE
Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM<form class="w-100 left" id="registration-form" data-qa="regwall-registration-form-container">
<div>
<div class="wpds-c-giPdwp wpds-c-giPdwp-iPJLV-css">
<div class="wpds-c-iQOSPq"><span role="label" id="radix-0" class="wpds-c-hdyOns wpds-c-iJWmNK">Enter email address</span><input id="registration-email-id" type="text" aria-invalid="false" name="registration-email"
data-qa="regwall-registration-form-email-input" data-private="true" class="wpds-c-djFMBQ wpds-c-djFMBQ-iPJLV-css" value="" aria-labelledby="radix-0"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="dn">
<div class="db mt-xs mb-xs "><span role="label" id="radix-1" class="wpds-c-hdyOns"><span class="db font-xxxs gray-darker pt-xxs pb-xxs gray-dark" style="padding-top: 1px;"><span>By selecting "Start reading," you agree to The Washington Post's
<a target="_blank" style="color:inherit;" class="underline" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/information/2022/01/01/terms-of-service/">Terms of Service</a> and
<a target="_blank" style="color:inherit;" class="underline" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a>.</span></span></span>
<div class="db gray-dark relative flex pt-xxs pb-xxs items-start gray-darker"><span role="label" id="radix-2" class="wpds-c-hdyOns wpds-c-jDXwHV"><button type="button" role="checkbox" aria-checked="false" data-state="unchecked" value="on"
id="mcCheckbox" data-testid="mcCheckbox" class="wpds-c-bdrwYf wpds-c-bdrwYf-bnVAXI-size-125 wpds-c-bdrwYf-kFjMjo-cv wpds-c-bdrwYf-ikKWKCv-css" aria-labelledby="radix-2"></button><input type="checkbox" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"
value="on" style="transform: translateX(-100%); position: absolute; pointer-events: none; opacity: 0; margin: 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px;"><span class="wpds-c-bFeFXz"><span class="relative db gray-darker" style="padding-top: 2px;"><span
class="relative db font-xxxs" style="padding-top: 1px;"><span>The Washington Post may use my email address to provide me occasional special offers via email and through other platforms. I can opt out at any
time.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="subs-turnstile-hook" class="center dn"></div><button data-qa="regwall-registration-form-cta-button" type="submit"
class="wpds-c-kSOqLF wpds-c-kSOqLF-kXPmWT-variant-cta wpds-c-kSOqLF-eHdizY-density-default wpds-c-kSOqLF-ejCoEP-icon-left wpds-c-kSOqLF-ikFyhzm-css w-100 mt-sm"><span>Start reading</span></button>
</form>
Text Content
Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness SubscribeSign in Advertisement Close The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness ScienceSpace Animals Health Environment ScienceSpace Animals Health Environment SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED WHAT MAY BE THE FIRST ‘VAMPIRE’ VIRUS DUBBED MINIFLAYER, THE UNUSUAL MICROBE WAS FOUND ATTACHED TO ANOTHER VIRUS IN A SOIL SAMPLE FROM MARYLAND By Carolyn Y. Johnson November 14, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST MindFlayer, the larger virus in this microscope image, was found with the smaller MiniFlayer virus attached to its “neck.” (courtesy of Tagide deCarvalho/University of Maryland, Baltimore County) Listen 5 min Share Comment on this storyComment Add to your saved stories Save In March 2020, Tagide deCarvalho saw something truly strange — something she thinks no other scientist has ever seen before: a virus with another, smaller virus latched onto its “neck.” The backstory of this viral attachment is like a master class in how wild and weird biology can be. WpGet the full experience.Choose your planArrowRight The two microbes are both bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, that were harvested from a clump of dirt in Poolesville, Md. Bacteriophages, also called simply phages, are among the most abundant organisms on Earth. There can be millions in a gram of dirt. But with a special kind of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to capture images, deCarvalho witnessed a truly bizarre moment — kind of like a wildlife photographer who captures an animal behavior that no one had anticipated. Story continues below advertisement “I could see literally hundreds of them had this little guy attached at the neck, and it was clearly not random,” said deCarvalho, who manages the Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility at University of Maryland at Baltimore County. “We know that viruses can do some amazing, interesting things. But this is just another new thing that no one could have predicted we would see.” Advertisement In a recent study in the Journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology, deCarvalho and colleagues explain how the viral odd couple probably came to be. The small virus, called MiniFlayer, lost the ability to make copies of itself inside cells, which is how viruses reproduce. So evolution devised a clever, parasitic workaround. MiniFlayer takes advantage of another virus, dubbed MindFlayer, by grabbing onto its neck, and when they enter cells together, MiniFlayer utilizes its companion’s genetic machinery to proliferate. Scientists woke up a 46,000-year-old roundworm from Siberian permafrost Is it an embrace? A stranglehold? DeCarvalho compares the relationship to viral hitchhiking. Her collaborator, Ivan Erill, a computational biologist at UMBC, likens it to a vampire sinking its teeth into its prey. It’s not a perfect analogy, but he notes that sometimes, when they find MindFlayer alone, they can find “bite marks” where MiniFlayer’s tendrils were attached. Story continues below advertisement “Viruses will do anything. They are the most creative force of nature,” Erill said. “If anything is possible, they will come up with a way to do it. But no one had anticipated that they would do something like this.” THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF VIRUSES The discovery started with an undergraduate class designed to teach students basic laboratory techniques, asking them to isolate phages from soil samples and study them using genetics. DeCarvalho has been working with the program for seven years and says that for many of the students, seeing the phage is an exciting moment, like when expecting parents see the ultrasound of a fetus for the first time. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement In this case, undergraduates Jenell Lewis and Hira Ahmed isolated and named their phage MindFlayer in 2019. But genome sequencing returned puzzling results, suggesting some kind of contamination. When deCarvalho looked at it with a microscope, she noticed not one phage, but two. Share this articleShare The “virosphere,” as scientists call the strange universe of viruses, is known to include elements called “satellites” that have lost their ability to replicate inside cells. Usually, satellites overcome this deficiency by integrating into the genome of the cells that they infect. They lurk there until another virus, a “helper” that has the missing ingredients, happens to enter the cell. The satellites then seize the opportunity to make copies of themselves. MiniFlayer is a satellite, but unlike the typical version, it doesn’t have the ability to hide inside cells. That leaves it with a conundrum: How to make sure it ends up in the cell with its helper at the same time. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement “What this virus has done is say, okay, I’m going to attach to my helper, attach to its neck — and travel with my helper until we find a new cell,” Erill said. This is par for the course in microbiology, where tactics like molecular piracy and hijacking have been honed over millions of years of evolution. Bacteria are wildly outnumbered by their viral predators, putting them in an ongoing evolutionary arms race. Bacteria develop defenses, and viral phages develop counter-defense strategies. Phages parasitize other phages. Researchers are interested in using phages, the natural predators of bacteria, as medicine. Phage therapy can be used to target harmful infections, an approach that could become more important as antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become a growing threat. Story continues below advertisement Terje Dokland, a microbiology professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who was not involved in the study, said the observation of the two attached phages was “intriguing” but called for more images and research to draw firmer conclusions about the interaction, and to tease out whether the two viruses are really co-infecting cells. Advertisement The authors hope to collaborate with groups that use a different form of electron microscopy to understand what’s happening more clearly. Unlike a vampire, deCarvalho points out, the MiniFlayer isn’t sucking something out of MindFlayer. “We don’t know whether or not the satellite is injecting its DNA into the helper or if it’s just hitchhiking along for a ride and then falling off, like a tick,” deCarvalho said. “Hopefully someone else will pick up this work and figure out that really interesting question.” Share 153 Comments Loading... Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. Choose your plan → Advertisement Advertisement TOP STORIES Technology Big Tech news and how to take control of your data and devices IBM pulls ads from X as Musk amplifies antisemitism These lawyers used ChatGPT to save time. They got fired and fined. How Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ reached millions online Refresh Try a different topic Sign in or create a free account to save your preferences Advertisement Advertisement Company About The Post Newsroom Policies & Standards Diversity & Inclusion Careers Media & Community Relations WP Creative Group Accessibility Statement Sitemap Get The Post Become a Subscriber Gift Subscriptions Mobile & Apps Newsletters & Alerts Washington Post Live Reprints & Permissions Post Store Books & E-Books Print Archives (Subscribers Only) Today’s Paper Public Notices Coupons Contact Us Contact the Newsroom Contact Customer Care Contact the Opinions Team Advertise Licensing & Syndication Request a Correction Send a News Tip Report a Vulnerability Terms of Use Digital Products Terms of Sale Print Products Terms of Sale Terms of Service Privacy Policy Cookie Settings Submissions & Discussion Policy RSS Terms of Service Ad Choices washingtonpost.com © 1996-2023 The Washington Post * washingtonpost.com * © 1996-2023 The Washington Post * About The Post * Contact the Newsroom * Contact Customer Care * Request a Correction * Send a News Tip * Report a Vulnerability * Download the Washington Post App * Policies & Standards * Terms of Service * Privacy Policy * Cookie Settings * Print Products Terms of Sale * Digital Products Terms of Sale * Submissions & Discussion Policy * RSS Terms of Service * Ad Choices * Coupons 5.7.3 Already have an account? Sign in -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TWO WAYS TO READ THIS ARTICLE: Create an account or sign in Free * Access this article Enter email address By selecting "Start reading," you agree to The Washington Post's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The Washington Post may use my email address to provide me occasional special offers via email and through other platforms. I can opt out at any time. Start reading BEST VALUE Subscribe €6 €0.99every 4 weeks for the first year * Unlimited access to all articles * Save stories to read later Subscribe WE CARE ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY We and our 38 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data. WE AND OUR PARTNERS PROCESS DATA TO PROVIDE: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use limited data to select advertising. Store and/or access information on a device. Use limited data to select content. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development. List of Partners (vendors) I Accept Reject All Show Purposes