Matariki Lecture: Virus-X - exploring the structural and functional diversity of the Virosphere

Viruses are a highly diverse family of infectious agents that can only replicate inside living cells exploiting the cellular machinery of its host. Different types of viruses can infect all forms of life from animals and plants to microorganisms thus presenting an incredible degree of genetic diversity. Therefore, many of today’s standard tools in biotechnology are derived from viral genes, yet, viruses still represent the largest reservoir of unexplored genetic wealth on the planet.

The Horizon 2020 Virus-X project aims to explore the outer realms of this ‘virosphere’ by searching out extreme microbial ecosystems such as hot Icelandic lakes and high-pressure arctic deep-sea vents to uncover novel gene sequences.

The lecture will be recorded and broadcasted on the Matariki Youtube channel afterwards.