The Viruses Virus

Using a technique known as metagenomics, researchers from the University of Maryland and the University of New South Wales have recently discovered the third known Virophage. The Virophage, known as Organic Lake Virophage (OLV) was discovered in Antarctica’s Organic Lake. It will actually infect and propagate inside a larger master virus that is already infecting a host cell, in this situation it was a phycodnavirus infecting marine algae. Unlike Satellite viruses which do not interfere with the master virus, OLV will greatly reduce the amount of viral particles produced and thereby benefit the host cell by slowing down the cell lysis process. One of the most interesting discoveries in OLV research was that it was found to share genes with the its master virus, indicating OLVs ability to transfer genes to and copy genes from viruses. After the discovery of OLV the research team referred to a database of metagenomic data and found known OLV genes in multiple locations including an estuary in New Jersey, a freshwater lake in Panama and the Galapagos islands. These discoveries will no doubt lead to new theories on evolutionary genetics. It is fascinating to think that there are these Virophages which can infect and reduce the production of viruses and also transfer genes between viruses. I think these discoveries will greatly help in the argument of whether or not viruses are alive, considering that they themselves can be parasitized.

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