Herpes Virus Shoots DNA Into Human Cells With Crazy High Internal Pressure
Herpes Entering A Cell Bauer et al. Herpes, having a blast. Scientists have long theorized that herpes viruses are so stuffed with genetic material that infecting a host cell is as easy as popping a balloon. Or exploding a powder keg. The internal pressure within the virus is so great, it explodes its genetic material straight out of its virus shell and right into its desired host. Pressure-driven infection has been observed previously in bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria cells, but scientists from Carnegie Mellon University now have the first experimental evidence that a eukaryotic virus, a virus that can infect cells with a nucleus, can do it. They've also been able to measure the pressure. The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)--that's the type of herpes that normally causes herpes infections around the mouth, as opposed to HSV-2, the usual cause of genital herpes--contains a double strand of DNA...