Film Shows Virus Going In For The Kill

Using a creature as hideous as any big-screen sci-fi monster, scientists have produced a one-minute horror movie starring a menacing, spidery virus swooping in on a hapless blob of bacteria. While the shape-changing virus is clearly the villain, the bacterium is E. coli — a less than sympathetic victim. So in some ways, rooting for either is a little like choosing between King Kong or Godzilla. But that's not the point. The computer-generated short arose from research that could help scientists find new ways to combat viruses that cause everything from the common cold to AIDS.