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LiveScience
LiveScience
Nicoletta Lanese

Mysterious virus-like 'Obelisks' found in the human gut and mouth

Illustration of pink cells lining the human gut.

Scientists have uncovered a never-before-seen class of virus-like entities hiding in the human gut and mouth, and these "viroids" may influence the gene activity within the human microbiome, Science reported.

The researchers confirmed one host for these viroids, namely, a common bacterium found in the mouth called Streptococcus sanguinis. They've yet to confirm additional hosts, but they suspect at least a fraction are bacteria.

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