Why Viruses may be a Genome Editor's Secret Weapon

A scanning electron micrograph of HIV particles (orange) on a human T cell. (Image: NIAID/NIH) Viruses have a bad reputation. Smallpox, bird flu, Dengue fever, Ebola - some of the most frightening health threats come from the diminutive pseudo-lifeforms, which are often just a few dozen nanometers across. Viruses deposit genetic material into unsuspecting host cells, which ultimately process the new instructions through transcription and translation, running off copies of the invader like an over-caffeinated Xerox. When the virus is ready to make its move, a couple of hundred viral particles assemble, bursting out of the doomed host to spread far and wide. This sequence of events is primarily a negative experience for those of us who aren’t viruses, but their ability to re-package DNA and deliver it to an unsuspecting organism isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, a community of virus apologists has arisen over the last several ...