A team of people from the Aix-Marseille University found a giant virus in the permafrost in Siberia. The virus was so large that it could be seen with a light microscope, and was said to be over 30,000 years old. This virus has been named Pithovirus sibericum virus and is 1.5 micrometers long, which is much longer than the giant viruses that were found before it. The discovery of this virus has the science community scratching their heads about what family these newly found viruses belong to. Before the discovery of the Pithovirus sibericum virus, scientists believed that all giant viruses were part of the same family but now they aren’t sure (Rosen, 2014). In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the giant viruses that came before the Pithovirus sibericum virus. I will continue to give a definition of what elements make up a virus, and what affect the discovery of giant viruses has had on the scientific community. Consequently, I will discuss what makes the Pithovirus sibericum virus different from the giant viruses that were discovered before it. I will also discuss my personal opinions on the topic of giant viruses.
When giant viruses were first found, they were so large they had people wondering what exactly makes something a living organism (Molly, 2012); even though what makes something a living organism is its ability to metabolize, which is something viruses cannot do. After the recent questioning of what constitutes as a virus, some have said that it is based on their capsid; but it’s not solely based on their ability to have a capsid. Ironically, it is based on their capsid encoding ability (Raoult & Forterre, 2008).
After their original discovery giant viruses were named mimiviruses. One of the earlier known mimiv...
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...ibericum virus so different from the other giant viruses. I hope this paper has been informative, and eye opening toward the discovery of giant viruses.
Works Cited
Rosen, M. (2014). Genes & cells: Giant virus pulled from permafrost: Scientists revive ancient, record-breaking microbe. Science News, 185(7), 8-9. doi:10.1002/scin.5591850705
Smallridge, R. (2008). Virology: A virus gets a virus. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 6(10), 714. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2002
Van Etten, J. L., & Meints, R. H. (1999). Giant viruses infecting algae. Annual Review Of Microbiology, 53(1), 447.
Molloy, S. (2012). Virology: Giant viruses - movers and shakers. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 10(12), 803. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2927
Raoult, D., & Forterre, P. (2008). What makes a virus a virus: reply from Raoult and Forterre. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 6(8), 643. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1858-c2
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