VIRUSES AND ASTROBIOLOGY

Thinking about viruses...
Are viruses alive?
Are they the Fourth Domain of Life on Earth?
How important are they for evolution?

Information about viruses from Astrobiology Magazine:

. Are viruses the new frontier for astrobiology?
. Study adds to evidence that viruses may be alive
. Astro-virology presents an argument that viruses should to be incorporated into astrobiological research
. Giant Viruses Shake Up the Tree of Life
. "Seeing Life in Viruses" is a not-too-old (2008) article on viruses and their possible association with the "RNA World" hypothesis. Very interesting...

. Viruses Help Microbial Hosts Cope with Life at the Extremes. Viruses helpfully shuttle genes around that can help their hosts survive.
. The 'intraterrestrials': New viruses discovered in ocean depths Discovery of a virus that infects archaea and has a diversity-generating retroelement that accelerates mutation.
. Antarctic salt-loving microbes provide insights into evolution of viruses. This finding suggests some viruses may have evolved from plasmids.