Vampire Viruses: Unveiling the World's First Viral Attachment

Scientists have observed, for the first time, one virus attaching itself to another virus. Using an electron microscope, researchers captured the interaction between a satellite virus and a helper virus. The satellite virus relies on the helper virus to replicate its DNA once inside a host cell. The attachment occurs at the "neck" of the helper virus, where its outer shell connects to its tail. This discovery sheds light on the co-evolution and interaction between different types of bacteriophages, raising questions about their evolutionary strategies.