In addition to viperin, nearly 8 percent of the Asgard archaea defense genes analyzed were associated with argonautes. These are immune proteins that chop up DNA to halt the spread of a virus.

Were there already viruses on Earth when the first living cells appeared billions of years ago? – Aayush A., age 16, India How life on Earth started has puzzled scientists for a long time.

Viruses typically aren’t considered ‘alive,’ as many core biological functions are outsourced to their hosts. But a newly discovered organism appears to straddle the line between virus and cell.

Related stories can be found at The Astrobiology Web and The Astrobiology Network Berkeley — For 11 years, Jill Banfield at the University of California, Berkeley, has collected and studied t… ...

The CRISPR spacer and Hi-C data showed us that the bacteria interacted, in some way or another, with the same virus as the archaea, which is totally wild.” ...

Asgard archaea were first collected at a vent in the Arctic known as "Loki's castle." (Image credit: Ralph White via Getty Images) Defense systems found in all complex life on Earth came from ...

Viruses typically aren’t considered ‘alive,’ as many core biological functions are outsourced to their hosts. But a newly discovered organism appears to straddle the line between virus and cell.

Fossil evidence of how the earliest life on Earth came to be is hard to come by. But scientists have come up with a few theories based on the microbes, viruses and prions existing today.

Viruses, as Live Science points out, can contain many hundreds of thousands more base pairs, and can even reach up into the millions. As for fellow archaea, the smallest known complete genome within ...

Viruses typically aren’t considered ‘alive,’ as many core biological functions are outsourced to their hosts. But a newly discovered organism appears to straddle the line between virus and cell.