"The insect world is full of species of parasitic wasps that spend their infancy eating other insects alive. And for reasons that scientists don’t fully understand, they have repeatedly adopted and tamed wild, disease-causing viruses and turned them into biological weapons. Half a dozen examples already are described, and new research hints at many more."
"On a sunny day 7 years ago in the Budongo Forest Reserve in Uganda, researchers were startled to observe chimpanzees scoop dry bat feces from under a hollow tree & devour it. In 60 years of observations at Budongo, no one had ever seen such a thing, recalls veterinary epidemiologist Tony Goldberg of the U of WI —Madison. “Aside from the ick factor, we all had the exact same thought. They must be exposed to horrible bat-borne #viruses.”
That suspicion proved correct. Though the bat feces is rich in nutrients, it contains dozens of previously unknown viruses. These novel pathogens include a new #coronavirus—a relative of the one that causes #COVID-19.
Ordinarily, chimps & other animals in the area get these minerals by eating the pith of the raffia palm.
Local tobacco farmers nearly extirpated the palm to make string to tie up tobacco.
Happy to share the latest manuscript from our lab, in which we propose that eukaryotes evolved from a genomic chimera of Asgard archaea and giant viruses.
There is an interesting discussion about bats, pangolins, and SARS-CoV-2 in the Nature Communications paper "Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses circulating in bats and pangolins in Southeast Asia" [1].
The paper is also discussed in some detail on TWiV 722 [2]. The discussion starts at about 00:19:20.
What would an infectious mental illness look like? If software viruses infected "wetware" (brains) and evolved according to natural selection, what features would you expect them to exhibit? Are there real-world examples? What sort of immune responses might you expect?
Stepping away for a bit, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Please boost if you're also interested.
Australian Parrot Potentially Faces Extinction Threats From Previously Unidentified Viruses via James Cook University & published by Microbiology Spectrum
So you're risking it and visiting with friends or extended family indoors today...
In #Los Angeles, covid levels are rising and on track to replicate last year's peak. I'd isolate for several days post potential exposure & maybe do a couple tests at 3 & 4 days point to protect others. Mask around others.
#RSV is near a peak much higher than last year's. anecdotally, persistent cough is a prevalent symptom this year. Mask & Wash hands frequently. Isolate if ill.
#Flu prevalence is rising STEEPLY and significantly higher than last year. Mask & wash hands frequently. Isolate if ill.
how about talking about how it damages #tcells instead of dated info from some immunology book back from when you were in Med school🙄
it👏🏼is👏🏼called👏🏼a👏🏼novel👏🏼virus👏🏼… for a reason!!!
also reasoning of not vaccinating #xbb for those under 65 to lessen burden on #nhs … 😶…😶😶😶😶😶🤯
Do these people hear themselves?🤦🏻♀️
I’m not dumb, ditzy on occasion but I get things eventually, however I read & see things constantly that are making me second guess myself; maddening
Prof Openshaw said: "The #viruses circulating now are pretty distant immunologically from the original #virus which was used to make the early #vaccines, or which last infected them.
"A lot of people have very little immunity to the #Omicron viruses and their #variants ."
WTF #misinformation is this?!?!
THERE IS NO NOR HAS THERE EVER BEEN DURABLE IMMUNITY TO A VIRUS THAT HAS MUTATED MORE IN 3 YEARS THAN FLU IN 15+++++ YEARS even if you were just infected
Using lively text, clear graphics, and beautiful imagery, Viruses examines all the aspects of viruses that are essential for understanding them―their diversity, behaviors, life cycles, and much more.
Has chicken pox gotten milder?
Has glandular fever gotten milder?
Has mumps gotten milder?
Has rubella become milder?
Has measles gotten milder?
Has the three-day fever gotten milder?
Has the RS virus become milder?
Has the winter sickness gotten milder?
Has bird flu gotten milder?
Has TBE become milder?
Has HIV gotten milder?
Has Herpes gotten milder?
Impressive depiction of a #bacteriophage launching an assault on a bacterial cell. Bacteriophages, resembling creatures from a science fiction thriller, are specialized #viruses that target and infect bacterial cells by binding to specific surface proteins. They inject their #genetic material to hijack the bacterial machinery for replication, ultimately leading to the demise of the bacterial #cell.
(German in alt text)
Viruses lurking in giraffe and lemur poop could lead to new antibacterial drugs, scientists say (www.livescience.com)
Scientists uncovered viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages, in animal poop and are testing whether they could work as antibiotics.