Ivan Erill News Today

Scientists have uncovered a vampire virus called MiniFlayer.

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. 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 ...

Scientists discovered a strange virus called MiniFlayer that latches onto a larger virus called MindFlayer in soil collected in Maryland.

The MiniFlayer virus is the first known vampire virus to latch onto another virus. Let's take a deeper look at the frightening yet revelatory discovery.

This Mini-Flayer and Mind-Flayer virus are in a serious long-term relationship.

This Mini-Flayer and Mind-Flayer virus are in a serious long-term relationship.

Scientists at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have discovered the existence of "vampire viruses," according to a Monday press release.

For the first time ever, 'vampire viruses' have been discovered by a team of scientists in soil samples in the United States.

Strip life down to its simplest components, you're left with fragments of genes and proteins that rely on the cellular machinery of host organisms to reproduce – elements we call viruses.

Viruses that infect bacteria cells have evolved in order to survive. Scientists found infectious agents bite on the necks of other viruses to to integrate with the host cells DNA - making them vampire viruses.