Month: September 2022

SIMPLE IS THE NEW COMPLEX. "The interesting thing about these results is that they indicate that viruses must have diversified from ancient cells by a process called reductive evolution, where organisms simplify instead of becoming more complex." http://www.popsci.com/new-evidence-that-viruses-are-alive View in LinkedIn

OUR BACTERIAL GENOME. "Bacterial information is our second genome, with a total genetic complexity about 100 times greater than that of our own genome. We are 99 % bacteria – with respect to the total genetic information of our body." https://lnkd.in/eGaw2Kq View in LinkedIn

OUR VIRAL GENOME. "Viruses may be our third genome. We harbor about 1.5 kg of bacteria in our guts – 1,500 different types. Viruses are also a major component in our guts. Two hundred types have been detected in human gut samples based on similarities to known viruses." https://lnkd.in/eGaw2Kq View in LinkedIn

MORE SUPERLATIVES. "There are an estimated 10(31) viruses on Earth. That is to say: there may be a hundred million times more viruses on Earth than there are stars in the universe." https://lnkd.in/dzmPw57 View in LinkedIn

THE GREAT PLATE COUNT ANOMALY: "typically

ADVANCED BUT UNCULTURED. "Consequences of reductive evolution in streamlined organisms include atypical patterns of prototrophy and the absence of common regulatory systems, which have been linked to difficulty in culturing these cells." Lovely review on streamlining theory. https://lnkd.in/ebFkv5a View in LinkedIn

PRESCIENT. "As Leonardo da Vinci reportedly said, ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’" http://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/v8/n8/full/ismej201460a.html View in LinkedIn

SLOW AND FAST CHANGE. "Flu viruses have the capacity to change both slowly, through small genetic changes that are passed down to daughter generations, and quickly, through a process called “reassortment” that mixes larger genetic segments from several viral strains to create a new virus. Both processes are important to influenza’s success as a disease-causing organism during flu seasons and in pandemics." https://lnkd.in/eNYwEBt View in LinkedIn

CRITICAL ROLE. "I want to convince you of the importance of viruses other than as purveyors of disease, and that if it were not for viruses, life on the planet would probably not exist, or at least we would not exist." https://lnkd.in/e2MHV6z View in LinkedIn

GREATEST GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY: VIRUSES. "The oceans are being viewed as a vast reservoir of potential genetic and biological diversity that can be interrogated to uncover processes and functions. Perhaps surprising to some, most life in the oceans, by weight, is microbial." https://lnkd.in/e2MHV6z View in LinkedIn