Giant Marine Virus Found

Giant Marine Virus Found

www.the-scientist.com

…these viruses, which appear to obtain much of their large genomes from their hosts and other microorganisms, may be more commonplace than scientists once believed.

… Not only can viruses take up genetic material from their hosts and other organisms, but they can donate genes, as well…

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.cbsnews.com
www.zangani.com
iplextra.indiatimes.com
arstechnica.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
CONS: H1N1 Flu: A Tale of Evolution, Economics, Power Politics and International Law.
Creating Disease: Pollution, Mutation, Adaptation and Evolution
'Lifeless' Prion Proteins Are 'Capable of Evolution'
Mutation and Human Evolution

The central point:

… Not only can viruses take up genetic material from their hosts and other organisms, but they can donate genes, as well…

Think about it.

Viruses can change our genetic code.

Not a surprise, really. Genetic engineers have been using viruses as vehicles to get inside DNA and manipulate genes (alter genetic codes) for years - they just copied nature.

But how does it play outside the lab, in the natural world?

Simple. Altered chemicals and proteins, even altered proportions, lead to mutated viruses and bacteria, which go on to change complex organisms like humans. By changing our genetic code. …We're all connected.

…We fundamentally changed the biological basis of our world - changed the essence of life on our planet - with everything from our industrial processes to our genetic tinkering.

I'm not so sure "genetic engineering" can be controlled inside the lab - but for sure, it's all out of control in the real world.

Here are a few tidbits from some of my related past posts.

From 2005:

My theory is that bird flu, antibiotic resistant bacteria, other Super Bugs, and prion diseases constitute evidence of a rapidly escalating process of evolutionary change that is forcing human adaptation. Also, "disease" is integral to the evolutionary process - the vehicle, if you will.

We are one with our planet in a very real way, from the atomic level on up. We contain the bits and parts of everything that exists around us – including elements, chemicals, proteins, microbes. And we have created new elements, chemicals, proteins, microbes to be part of our world. Now, whether we like it or not, they are part of us. “Disease” is the pain of assimilation, adaptation, and evolution. Nothing more, or less.

…I have come to conclude that it is a pointless mistake to focus on finding “cures” and “treatments.” It’s simply too late. The horse got out of the barn long, long ago. Modern industry changed the world – completely – at the chemical and biological level. We now are adapting to the changes, along with all the other life on earth. It really is too late to turn back the clock.

Instead of trying to stop time with new “cures,” we need to look at finding ways to ease our evolutionary transitions, and respect our own processes of adaptation.

My main concern is that “sick” people will be written off by society, and subjected to passive or active euthanasia. That would be a very big mistake, because even the science has changed. The new rules are different. And we really do NOT know exactly which mutations or what “disease” will enable the survival of the human species, in the end.

From 2006:

Electropollution and chemical contaminations have altered the structure and composition of the organic molecules that circulate in this planet's ecosphere. Much research describes these altered molecules' impact on non-living systems like the earth's carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen cycles - but the science is being buried by the "global warming debate." Similarly, the research investigating the effects of altered organic molecules on living cells and organisms is overshadowed and obscured by the so-called evolution/intelligent design "debates" that pit science against religion - another obviously orchestrated polarization designed to camouflage a real crisis.

From 2010:

…prions (infectious misfolded proteins) are now acknowledged to evolve and adapt.

Prions hitch-hike on viruses, and also on microbes like bacteria and fungi.

Mainstream medicine admits that prions are associated with 20 different brain diseases in humans and animals.

However, the evidence suggests that not only do prions cause most modern chronic and debilitating diseases, but they also underlie the current trend to accelerated evolution in microbes as well as complex living organisms.

What's most astounding about this news is the fact that it came out publicly, in the mainstream media.




Also see:
Mutation, Disease and Human Evolution: What Are the Options?

Financing Pseudoscience: Intelligent Design and the Evolution "Debate"

How Could an Event in 1997 Cause a Pandemic in 2009? What Happened?




www.the-scientist.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Very interesting read, S&F

If viruses can change DNA then is it possible to end up with a zombie like scenario? This has always fascinated me and I'm sure lots of others here on ATS, It would be great if you or someone else could shed some light on the situation for me

Does a virus "know" what all genetic codes it contains and what their functions are? It sounds similar to a programmer having a database of code snippets they can inject into their work to perform whatever function.

I glanced over the post & thought I saw that the viruses "ate" microbes in the ocean. I thought viruses replicated, I wasn't aware they ate anything or had digestive tracts.

reply to post by TechUnique


Thanks TechUnique.

...Zombies? Interesting question. Did you know that the "zombie scenario" is a standard tool scientists use to predict the spread of epidemics and pandemics?

More to your point - Alzheimer's and other dementias are suspiciously zombie-like, don't you think? And given the current rate of spread, there's obviously an infectious component. ["Age-related" my butt.]

How tall does the marine have to be in order for the virus to start effecting him/her? Also do these giant marines require more food than a normal sized marine?

Just kidding, I'm sorry I just couldn't resist when I saw the topic.

reply to post by soficrow


You make some very interesting points, although I was thinking about something more extreme where humans turn into cannibals with no morale compass. Followed by the cliché of "He bit you, now your one of them!".
Scary thought (Especially considering I can't go to a gun shop down the road like you lot in the states can )

reply to post by soficrow
mad cow comes to mind when thinking of what could be a zombie virus wasting disease is an other, could they mutate and be come one?

reply to post by sykickvision

Does a virus "know" what all genetic codes it contains and what their functions are?

Do they need to know?

It sounds similar to a programmer having a database of code snippets they can inject into their work to perform whatever function.

It does, doesn't it? Kinda like, whatever works.

I glanced over the post & thought I saw that the viruses "ate" microbes in the ocean. I thought viruses replicated, I wasn't aware they ate anything or had digestive tracts.

Not sure where you got that "ate" reference - but true, viruses don't eat or have digestive tracts. ...Viruses can be considered a unique form of life, and accessible language doesn't exist to describe them or their activities. When you see "quotation marks" assume that a word or phrase has been chosen to clarify something through metaphor, not literal accuracy.

reply to post by bekod

mad cow comes to mind when thinking of what could be a zombie virus wasting disease is an other, could they mutate and be come one?

Yep. Mad Cow disease, chronic wasting disease - all the prion and protein mis-folding diseases, and "conformational disorders" can attack the brain in a variety of ways. And yeah and yipes, they all could be characterized as "zombie diseases."

Which would be my cue to repeat the last paragraph in the first part:

My main concern is that “sick” people will be written off by society, and subjected to passive or active euthanasia. That would be a very big mistake, because even the science has changed. The new rules are different. And we really do NOT know exactly which mutations or what “disease” will enable the survival of the human species, in the end.

reply to post by soficrow


Soficrow,

Good find,

The virus was found in a single-celled host that preys on the bacteria and plankton at the base of the food chain. The new find, Cafeteria roenbergensis virus (CroV), has a genome that's over 700,000 base pairs long (700 kilobases, or kb). It's linear, and the ends are filled with repetitive DNA, which the authors speculate acts a bit like telomeres do in human cells, protecting the important DNA. The gene-containing region is about 630kb, and encodes about 550 proteins, along with a handful of transfer RNAs (part of the protein production machinery).

Immediately I am reminded of the study done in The Gulf of Mexico, and the impact of the oil and the dispersant.
I am off to find that info.

S&F!

reply to post by burntheships


Hope you do find and post that info. ...You just reminded me of Gulf info saying that a "new" bacteria(?) was found that eats oil/carbon(?)...

reply to post by burntheships


Did a quick search, found this thread about bacteria, not viruses...

Study: Microbes ate BP oil water plume

...My response:

This scares the poop out of me.

Microbes are adapting and evolving SO rapidly all of a sudden. The bacteria that "ate" the hydrocarbons in the oil plume belongs to the same family that just appeared inside eggs!!!

This is NOT good.

...The family is Proteobacteria; it was a new kind of salmonella that can now infect eggs (not just sit on the shell).

Proteobacteria:

The Proteobacteria are a major group (phylum) of bacteria. They include a wide variety of pathogens, such as Escherichia, Salmonella, Vibrio, Helicobacter, and many other notable genera. [2] Others are free-living, and include many of the bacteria responsible for nitrogen fixation.
Because of the great diversity of forms found in this group, the Proteobacteria are named after Proteus, the Greek god of the sea, capable of assuming many different shapes.[1] [3]

...so this recently mutated (NOT genetically engineered!) oil-eating protobacteria can digest hydrocarbons so efficiently that the oil plume disappeared inside of 2 weeks.

Also, it can not only survive at 41 degrees F, but function at super-capacity in the cold; so they're harvesting fish and shell fish from the area, and almost guaranteed, this super-protobacteria will hitchhike on the catches, and get onto the mainland where it will find another veritable feast of hydrocarbons...

Ahhh. The Circle of Life...

reply to post by soficrow


Yes, you found it! Thats exactly what I was thinking.

We have now entered The Twilight Zone.
I can only hope that these mad scientists are as capable as they think they are, at controlling the game between nature and science fiction (and non fiction).

Take for instance SYNTHIA, and her cousin

In 2003, JCVI successfully synthesized a small virus that infects bacteria. By 2008, the JCVI team was able to synthesize a small bacterial genome. On May 6, 2010, JCVI revealed they had already created a self-replicating bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome they named “synthetic Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0”. (7) This completely synthetic cell with its computer designed genome has absolutely no natural DNA. (1) The etc group from Canada named it Synthia and it contains added watermark chains to identify the genome as artificial. It also has antibiotic resistance indicators. (7) One can only speculate why this artificial bacterium has an inherent programmed capability to resist antibiotics.

This new life form has the ability to replicate itself and organically function in any cell into which it has been introduced. Its DNA is artificial and it’s this synthetic DNA that takes control of the cell and is credited with being the building block of life. This is the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell thanks to its computer generated DNA. All of the funding for this came from Synthetic Genomics Inc (1), the company BP has a sizable equity position and alliance with. BP is definitely way beyond petroleum just as their new slogan publicizes. .............................

In a paper published in the journal Science, Terry Hazen and his colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory discovered in late May through early June 2010 that a previously unknown species of cold-water hydrocarbon-eating bacteria have been feasting on the underwater oil plumes degrading them at accelerated rates. (11)

We can now understand why, on May 15, BP/Synthetic Genome’s CEO Craig Venter hinted of a new hydrocarbon-eating synthetic genome. Prior to that date, JCVI had already applied for numerous additional patents (we were able to find seven) regarding synthetic bio-remediation, such as bacteria synthetic genomes which provide unique DNA information required for “replication of a free-living organism”. In layman’s terms, this means the BP and Synthetic Genome scientists had already created self-replicating bacteria “wherein the assembled DNA molecule is a [synthetic] genome” back in 2007. (13)

worldvisionportal.org...

Now I am not a scientist, yet consider the possible ramifications....This new life form has the ability to replicate itself and organically function in any cell into which it has been introduced. Its DNA is artificial and it’s this synthetic DNA that takes control of the cell and is credited with being the building block of life.

Could that include viruses?

reply to post by burntheships


GREAT find.

...Are there any synthetic viruses?

No doubt. ...I'm pretty sure I have some old info on synthetic viruses, certainly modified/partially synthetic - mainly to do with genetic engineering and modification. [The template for entry into DNA.]

What a bloody tangled web.

As you may know, the nucleus of a cell is capable of processing instructions. Just like a processor. Instead of 1 & 0s, it uses dna.

Now I'm just thinking out loud here, so don't take any of this as fact. What if... The nucleus did more than just process instructions. What if this nucleus was more like a computer? Now, I'm not saying the nucleus is aware of its environment, has emotions, or even senses. I'm just saying it can calculate stimuli in various circumstances, and even has a very basic operating system to go along with it. For example, which gene is more suitable for its environment based on a database of previous stimuli.

Now, what does this have to do with viruses? Well, if the nucleus is indeed like a computer... and had an operating system. This operating system could be programmed to select genes transported by viruses in whatever manner it chooses for evolutionary purposes. Perhaps, even more interesting, it could even be programmed to create genes, based on stimuli (environmental kinetics). This nucleus would even be capable of creating vehicles to transport these genes to other multi-cellular organisms if it was programmed to do so (viruses).

Hogwash you say. 'Operating system?!... What is this tripe? There would have to be an intelligence to design this operating system. I'm an atheist. Therefore this is BS.'

I want you to ask yourself, "why are you an atheist?" Because intelligent design is BS? You would be right about that, the average joe's hypothesis of intelligent design is BS because it says god created the universe a short time ago. What if god created the universe 14+ billion years ago? Impossible you say. The time scales are illogical. There would be no reason for the universe to last that long for any purpose. Wrong. If god was running on a different time scale than us, a much slower one, it would make perfect sense. Well then, what would good what that be if there was no real time interaction with this universe? I ask you, what if god doesn't want to observe us in real time? What if god wants to observe the results? What if we are some elaborate scientific test or even some insane form of entertainment that seeks to create a TV show on the most fantastic civilization that occurs within the lifetime of the universe, maybe even some entities science fair project? Hogwash you say, the processing power required for that would be ludicrous to say the very least, and what the hell are you smoking? You are right. In our time period, this amount of processing power is but a pipe dream. Perhaps a million years from now though, that amount of processing power will be commonplace among even cell phones. I am smoking nothing currently