by Abi­gail Cur­tis — My first niche mi­cro­bi­o­log­i­cal in­ter­est came fresh­man year of high school, when I dis­cov­ered that viruses don't solely in­fect an­i­mals. In­deed, viruses are per­va­sive in every ecosys­tem, in­clud­ing the small­est ones in the ground. The as­pect of viruses in mi­cro­bial ecosys­tems...