Pandoravirus - a fourth domain of life

Pandoravirus - Aliens among us?



"Scientists have found the biggest viruses known, and these pandoraviruses have opened up entirely new questions in science—even suggesting a fourth domain of life, a new study says.

Each about one micron—a thousandth of a millimeter—in length, the newfound genus Pandoravirus dwarfs other viruses, which range in size from about 50 nanometers up to 100 nanometers. A genus is a taxonomic ranking between species and family.

In addition to being huge, pandoraviruses have supersize DNA: 2,500 genes as compared with 10 genes in many viruses"


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130718-viruses-pandoraviruses-science-biology-evolution/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=pandoravirus