“Horror” Virus
Image courtesy Jonathan Heras, Equinox Graphics
In a 3-D image, a bacteriophage aggressively attacks a bacterium “B-movie horror style,” according to creator Jonathan Heras of Equinox Graphics, Ltd. The digital ambush snagged an honorable mention in the illustrations category of the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
Bacteriophages are viruses with “alien, spindly legs” and sucker-shaped mouths used to “relentlessly pursue their prey,” Heras said in a statement. The viruses hijack bacteria’s biology and use the victims as virus “replication factories,” he said
