Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 22, 2025
11:23
Purifying the Impure: Sequencing Metagenomes and Metatranscriptomes from Complex Animal-associated Samples
Published on: December 22, 2014
37.4K
Illuminating the Virosphere Through Global Metagenomics.
Lee Call1, Stephen Nayfach1, Nikos C Kyrpides1
1Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA; email: nckyrpides@lbl.gov, lcall@lbl.gov.
Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science
|September 1, 2021
Summary
Recent advances in sequencing methods have dramatically increased the discovery of novel viruses, expanding our understanding of microbial life and driving biotechnological innovation.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Microbial Ecology
- Genomics
Background:
- Viruses are the most abundant biological entities, infecting all cellular life and playing crucial roles in the global biosphere.
- Viral discovery has historically progressed steadily but has recently undergone a transformative acceleration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the recent surge in viral discovery driven by technological advancements.
- To emphasize the impact of these discoveries on understanding microbial evolution and ecology.
- To underscore the potential for new biotechnological innovations.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing advanced methods for identifying viral sequences within genomic and metagenomic datasets.
- Leveraging the exponential growth of environmental sequencing data.
- Developing and implementing new standards for viral characterization.
Main Results:
- A significant expansion of the catalog of known viruses.
- Tremendous growth in viral sequence databases.
- Enhanced understanding of microbial evolution and ecological roles.
Conclusions:
- New viral discoveries are revolutionizing our comprehension of microbial life.
- These findings are paving the way for innovations in environmental, agricultural, and biomedical sciences.
- Continued development of standards and study of novel viruses will further transform the field.
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