By Ethan Covey
Scientists discovered hundreds of unusually large, bacteria-killing viruses with capabilities normally associated with living organisms.
The huge phages were found by scouring a large database of DNA generated from nearly 30 different environments, ranging from the guts of premature infants and pregnant women to a Tibetan hot spring, a South African bioreactor, hospital rooms, oceans, lakes and deep underground (Nature [Epub Feb 12, 2020]. doi: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2007-4).