viral sex

English

Live Cell Imaging of Viral sex.1005824.s010

Noun

viral sex (uncountable)

1. The process by which two viruses meet in a single host and reproduce to create a new virus that includes genetic material from both of them.
   • 1985, Harlyn Odell Halvorson, Alberto Monroy, The Origin and Evolution of Sex, page 75:

     Bacterial and viral sex, we believe, evolved in response to nucleic acid-threatening radiation and led to the spread of genes as "small genetic entities" in protected packets [Sonea and Panisett, 1983].

   • 2000, New Scientist - Volume 167, Issues 2254-2262, page 332:

     Once each of the eight gene segments have been sequenced, he says, it will be possible to recreate viral sex in the lab, inserting one segment at a time into an everyday human flu strain.

   • 2011, Dorothy H. Crawford, Viruses: A Very Short Introduction, →ISBN:

     Phages are well known for mistakenly incorporating bits of DNA from one host and carrying them to the next, thereby spreading genetic material rapidly between their host bacteria. In the marine environment, this behaviour, which has been referred to as 'viral sex', seems to be rife, with viruses capturing host genes and passing them around the community