agriculture, immunology

Plants are locked in an ancient arms race with hostile viruses, but genome editing is giving crops the upper hand.

Viruses are incapable of reproducing without the help of a host, whose cells copy their genetic material and fabricate the building blocks of new virus particles.

Inadequate poultry immunization programs may cause higher mutations rates in the bird flu virus, rendering the vaccine ineffective and increasing the threat of cross-species transmission.