Click pic to learn all about it




  1. Jägermeister says:

    Dildoviridae

  2. Li says:

    The bacteriophage was the first virus I ever saw, so I can’t say it looks so odd.

    Viruses of the genus Geminiviridae actually have two separate particles each containing genetic information, and only with both present can infection and replication occur. Now that’s weird.

  3. Get a Job says:

    Rather amazing looks like a sandwich on steroids or perhaps my old boss

  4. Sister Mary Hand Grenade of Quiet Reflection says:

    Cute little fucker!

  5. a schtick in your eye says:

    It’s a Big Mac with legs.

  6. honeyman says:

    If it were bigger it would make a dandy mike stand for Curry.

  7. Special Ed says:

    It might be a Jewish virus, it looks like an upside down dreidel.

  8. noname says:

    This looks like a defect on a silicon wafer.

    I’ve seen random defects that look toilets, faces, baseballs ….

  9. Macbandit says:

    Looks like a face F@&cker.

  10. Jopa says:

    Viruses are the weirdos of nature… I mean, look at it!
    LOL 😀

  11. gal416 says:

    Defense Department test #42 of 120.

  12. soundwash says:

    #11 -lol (in a sad sort of way)

    that was the first thing that came to mind when i saw it. (ie military research)

    -s

  13. Boo-Man says:

    One of the densest natural sources for phages and other viruses is sea water.

    (they are the cause of global warming mutations like Al Gore)

    They have been used for over 60 years as an alternative to antibiotics in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

    (so it’s an antibiotic)

    They are seen as a possible therapy against multi-drug resistant strains of many bacteria.

    (so it’s a natural antibiotic)

    The relationship between bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts is very important in the context of the food fermentation industry.

    (they do dinner together quite often)

  14. andycatus says:

    #8 You win a prize because you are almost right.

    If you read the article the picture shown is a scanning electron micrograph of a man made model (ie non working) of just the shape of a real virus. Probably fabricated on a silicon substrate.

  15. Boo-Man says:

    One might question the science behind this photo which looks more and more like a computer generated rendering every second. When looking at the above photograph and comparing it to one that shows a number of the bacteriophages attached to a cell, here we have a whole bunch of them “in action” with curved stems. I highly doubt that a bacteriophage would “stand at attention” as such. In fact, one might study the entire process of how these “electron photographs” are made.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Phage.jpg

    Oh, I see Andycatus just proved my point already.

  16. Winston says:

    The Andromeda strain. Excellent film, the original version anyway.

  17. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    That ain’t nothing. You should see the virus I picked up in the UK. Ugly Brits

  18. Buzz says:

    The layering on the payload pod is an artifact of the SEM. Here’s a clearer visualization:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ofd_lgEymto&NR=1

    I saw the first visualization of these over 30 years ago, making the headline a tad non sequitur. How many things have been a part of your life for thirty years that seem “weird?”

    You want weird? Look at your ear.


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