Scientists have zoomed in on mimivirus, the enormous virus with the delicate name that has perplexed scientists since 1992, when it was found living in an amoeba in a water tower in England.
“This is like landing on the moon,” says Michael Rossmann of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Rossmann and an international team of scientists report the results of their reconnaissance online April 27 in PLoS Biology.
Mimivirus, full name Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus, is the largest known virus in the world. Its mass is more than 100 times that of the virus that causes the common cold, says Rossmann. Because of its size and other features, mimivirus blurs the lines used to determine what is alive. The new work may help scientists understand if and how the virus could cause disease in humans.