Today’s column continues the theme of plant viruses introduced in this column last week. A virus can reduce a plant’s growth, lower its yield and result in inferior fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Ever since viruses came to light in the late 1800s, scientists have set them apart from the rest of life. Viruses were far smaller than ...

“It’s the most bizarre thing,” Edward Holmes, a virologist at the University of Sydney, told NPR’s Goats and Soda. “If you compare it to the human body, it’s like a person would have their legs, trunk ...

Shirin Ashraf does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...