Mimivirus up close

Scientists investigate structural details of the largest known virus

Scientists have zoomed in on mimivirus, the enormous virus with the delicate name that has perplexed scientists since 1992, when it was found living in an amoeba in a water tower in England.

Mimivirus, the largest known virus, bears a starfish-shaped structure (A and B) that covers an opening in the virus coat through which DNA might be expelled when infecting a host.