Giant pandoraviruses create their own genes

France Génomique participated in the identification of 3 new members of the pandoravirus family. Published in Nature Comm. June 2018, genomic analyses show that these new members possess a large number of “orphan” genes, different from one pandoravirus to the other and arising spontaneously and randomly in intergenic regions. This revolutionary hypothesis would make giant viruses artisans of genetic creativity.

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