Illustration: Karol Banach, Nature

In the June 20, 2019 issue, Elie Dolgin comments on recent work on sociovirology and the contributions of the I2SysBio Experimental Virus Evolution group led by Professor Rafael Sanjuán.

In an article titled "The secret social lives of viruses", science journalist Elie Dolgin explains recent advances in the study of the ability of viruses to communicate and operate collectively. In 2017, Rafael Sanjuán (I²SysBio), Sam Díaz-Muñoz (University of California) and Stu West (University of Oxford) proposed the term "sociovirology" to refer to the study of viruses from an innovative perspective, that of cooperation between these infectious agents. According to Dolgin's chronicle, in recent years a lot of experimental data has been accumulated, among which those provided by I2SysBio scientists stand out, which make viruses much more dynamic and sociable infectious agents than we had until now imagined.

• Full article

• More information about the work of Rafael Sanjuán and his team.