Washington, DC, USA. Research biologists have discovered the atomic structure of the powerful nanomotor that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly.

 

The findings have implications for developing a new weapon is in the fight against dangerous microbes, medical inteventions for repairs to head off potentially deleterious birth conditions, and expedited delivery of needed medications.

 

Peering at structures only atoms across, the work is an essential step in understanding how viruses multiply and infect new host organisms. Because a number of virus types may possess a similar motor, including viruses that cause common infections, the results may also provide new methods to sabotage virus machinery, leading to advanced cell embyo therapies and pharmaceuticals. 

 

Previous research had determined that the T4 molecular motor is the strongest yet discovered in viruses and, proportionately, twice as powerful as an automotive engine. The motors generate 20 times the force produced by the protein myosin, one of two proteins re

 

Lancaster, PA, USA. Tis the season for lists--all kinds of lists — including the best movies, top celebrities, most successful sports figures, even the dumbest utterances of the year.

 

In the political world, Time Magazine jumped the gun in August with its list of the 15 worst vice presidents. Not to be out done, Vice President-elect Joe Biden recently leaped into the fray with his provocative, but typical Biden-like assessment that Dick Cheney was the worst vice president in American history. Subsequently a CNN poll, notwithstanding the spirit of this holiday season, found that almost one quarter of Americans agreed with Biden.

 

We are content to let historians debate Cheney’s tenure, but not so willing to leave unchallenged some of the earlier lists. What lands a particular vice president on our short worst list is less what they did in office than what they did to the office.