A Pithovirus (above, as viewed by electron microscopy) was found to be still active and able to infect an amoeba.
Image courtesy Julia Bartoli and Chantal Abergel, IGS and CNRS-AMU
4 comments:
Erica
said...
I think that this giant virus is very interesting. It might have infected animals or plant species. "The fact that we might catch a viral infection from a long-extinct Neanderthal individual is a good demonstration that a virus could be 'eradicated' from the planet is plain wrong and gives us a false sense of security. I agree with the scientists that at least a stock of vaccine should be kept, just in case. I think that we should also not drill that much, so that we can be more safe from other diseases. I also find it amazing that this ancient virus has 500 genes, and the deadly HIV has only 12 genes. I think that this really shows that there can be deadly viruses that happened a long time ago, and that we should be more careful with the drilling and other things. I would rate this article a 10 out of 10 because they explained very much and had loads of information.
This was an extremely interesting article. I am very curious about certain viruses, so this really was intriguing to me. As Erica said, I am astonished that this has more genes than an extremely deadly disease such as HIV. Viruses like HIV have been a problem for a long time, and finding a virus more powerful is an amazing breakthrough, but It could lead to illness. This article to me was very informative, and I thank Juliet for giving us the opportunity to read it.
I thought that this article was really interesting. I think that this research is definitely worth it because if one of these viruses was uncovered that was deadly to humanity, we would not know how to treat it. I find it amazing that after 30,000 years, this virus is still alive. I was kind of confused about the gene thing, though. A higher number of genes means more genetic complexity. However, how does genetic complexity affect things. Does it make it harder to create vaccines for? Does it mean there are more possible genetic mutations? Could anyone clear that up for me?
I found this article to be amazing, maybe the best one I have read yet. Firstly, about the article and how it was written. The length was good, and it perfectly built up and made me very scared until it began to come back down. Now, about the article. Like I mentioned, as I began to read the article, I began to become very scared about this virus. I imagined a mega virus wreaking havoc on life as we know it. Something that scared me even more was how long it survived. 30,000 years frozen in the permafrost, and still having the ability to infect amoebae. Lastly, it was a "mega virus". This means that it has many more genes then that of any other virus. For example, HIV only has 12 genes, and HIV has been a reoccurring problem since 1981 in the United States. I was reassured, though, when they said it couldn't affect us.
4 comments:
I think that this giant virus is very interesting. It might have infected animals or plant species. "The fact that we might catch a viral infection from a long-extinct Neanderthal individual is a good demonstration that a virus could be 'eradicated' from the planet is plain wrong and gives us a false sense of security. I agree with the scientists that at least a stock of vaccine should be kept, just in case. I think that we should also not drill that much, so that we can be more safe from other diseases. I also find it amazing that this ancient virus has 500 genes, and the deadly HIV has only 12 genes. I think that this really shows that there can be deadly viruses that happened a long time ago, and that we should be more careful with the drilling and other things. I would rate this article a 10 out of 10 because they explained very much and had loads of information.
This was an extremely interesting article. I am very curious about certain viruses, so this really was intriguing to me. As Erica said, I am astonished that this has more genes than an extremely deadly disease such as HIV. Viruses like HIV have been a problem for a long time, and finding a virus more powerful is an amazing breakthrough, but It could lead to illness. This article to me was very informative, and I thank Juliet for giving us the opportunity to read it.
I thought that this article was really interesting. I think that this research is definitely worth it because if one of these viruses was uncovered that was deadly to humanity, we would not know how to treat it. I find it amazing that after 30,000 years, this virus is still alive. I was kind of confused about the gene thing, though. A higher number of genes means more genetic complexity. However, how does genetic complexity affect things. Does it make it harder to create vaccines for? Does it mean there are more possible genetic mutations? Could anyone clear that up for me?
I found this article to be amazing, maybe the best one I have read yet. Firstly, about the article and how it was written. The length was good, and it perfectly built up and made me very scared until it began to come back down. Now, about the article. Like I mentioned, as I began to read the article, I began to become very scared about this virus. I imagined a mega virus wreaking havoc on life as we know it. Something that scared me even more was how long it survived. 30,000 years frozen in the permafrost, and still having the ability to infect amoebae. Lastly, it was a "mega virus". This means that it has many more genes then that of any other virus. For example, HIV only has 12 genes, and HIV has been a reoccurring problem since 1981 in the United States. I was reassured, though, when they said it couldn't affect us.
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