The surprising discovery of entities smaller than viruses raises profound questions about what life is and how it got started ...

Viroids themselves are only found in plants, so far. “Viroids are a group of noncoding sub viral RNAs that infect plant hosts,” wrote the authors of a study published in PLOS Pathogens. They have ...

Their unique characteristics place them between viruses and tiny viroids, without being either type of infectious agent. These RNA circles are highly self-complementary, allowing them to adopt a ...

Obelisks share some traits with viroids—infectious RNA loops known to affect plants—but exist in human-associated bacteria. These RNA-based structures lack the protective protein shells seen ...

In March 2004, an international team of scientists reported that viroids, small infectious particles of naked RNA, may be employing RNA-silencing machinery to work their damage.1 Several weeks later, ...