Don’t Blame Pigs for Swine Flu—Species Hopping Is How Viruses Evolve

When new species evolve, where do their viruses come from? As little more than free-ranging bundles of genetic material, viruses desperately need to hijack their hosts’ cellular machinery and resources to replicate, over and over again. Without its host, a virus is nothing. Because of that dependence, some viruses have stuck with their hosts throughout …

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