Ambigrammatic Viruses

by Prof. Michael Wilkinson

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The Open University, UK

at Biological and soft-matter physics

Thu, 19 Mar 2026, 12:10
Zoom only

Abstract

Some simple RNA viruses have a surprising property: the
complementary strand of their genetic code lacks stop codons,
and could code for proteins.

I shall discuss some observations on the structure of the genetic code which explain
how this 'ambigrammatic' property can evolve, and which can distinguish
different explanations of why it offers a reproductive advantage.

A technique called ribosome profiling shows that the ambigrammatic viral
RNA becomes covered by a string of ribosomes, which do not detach from its end.

Mario Feingold is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85087175915?pwd=La8LTttIIbw4VYVEFxrXpFlbH7LoCp.1

Meeting ID: 850 8717 5915
Passcode: 990655
I speculate that this provides a mechanism to hide viral RNA from host cell
defences, which may be utilised by more complex viruses.

This talk reports collaboration with Gytis Dudas, Hanna Retallack, David Yllanes,
Greg Huber, Amy Kistler and Joe DeRisi, from Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco.

Created on 11-03-2026 by Feingold, Mario (mario)
Updaded on 19-03-2026 by Feingold, Mario (mario)