Even viruses get viruses...

Even Viruses Can Get Infected With Other Viruses

Three tiny, newly described viruses—named Larry, Curly, and Moe—target bigger viruses.

SARAH ZHANG, The Atlantic

Even viruses get viruses...

In a single drop of water from Lake Ontario, you can find an abundance of algae. In these algae, scientists in 2015 found a new virus belonging to an enigmatic group called giant viruses. And nested inside these giant viruses, scientists have now found yet more novel viruses—three tiny ones that they have named CpV-PLV Larry, Curly, and Moe.

“I originally named them to see if I can get away with it,” says Joshua Stough, now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan. He’s a co-author of a new paper describing and naming the Three Stooges, so, in fact, he has gotten away with it.


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