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TANGLED WEB. “However, viruses and other selfish genetic elements form a complex network of evolutionary relationships in which genomes are linked through different sets of shared genes.” https://lnkd.in/eU7uHHB View in LinkedIn

NO CONSERVED GENES. “Viruses and related genetic elements do not share a single common ancestor: indeed, there are no genes that would be conserved in all or even in the majority of viral genomes.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

TURBO-EVOLUTION. “Viral genes typically evolve much faster than genes of cellular organisms, and as a result, most of the genetic diversity on earth is probably concentrated in the virus world.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

WOW. “The overall number of distinct genes present in the genomes of selfish elements appears to substantially exceed the number of genes in all cellular life forms.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

UNPARALLELED DIVERSITY. “The virus world displays an enormous diversity of genome structures and sizes (viral genomes consist of single-stranded (ss) or double-stranded (ds) RNA or DNA and range in size from less than 2 kb to over 2 Mb), replication and expression mechanisms, and virion structure.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn

IN ALMOST ALL LIFE. “Viruses and/or other selfish elements, such as transposons and plasmids, parasitize or enter symbiotic relationships with all cellular life forms, with the possible exception of some extremely reduced intracellular parasites.” https://lnkd.in/eU7uHHB View in LinkedIn

THE NEXT SECTION deals with some extraordinary findings and insights in the viral world outlined in a second very important article, and is a bookend for the previous blockbuster. Really exciting stuff. View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this extensive citation of a very important article on biological dark matter and the new emerging biological paradigm. This viewpoint is far from mainstream because it takes time for new ideas to overcome resistance, to become accepted and to trickle into mainstream thinking. However, this is an extremely important start. https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

SMALLPOX VARIOLATION “may have developed independently in China and India, because different routes of inoculation, nasal and cutaneous respectively, were used in these countries. It was said to have been introduced into Egypt by the Mamelukes in the 13th century, and was known in North and western Africa, at least from the late 17th century.” https://lnkd.in/edjPjCH View in LinkedIn

GENETIC DIFFERENCES. “The viromes (i.e., the compendia of all viruses and virus-like elements) of prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria) and eukaryotes are dramatically different.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12728/full View in LinkedIn