‘Viruses are dreadful’ we can all agree upon this statement after the covid-19 pandemic. Lives were lost, many were laid off from their jobs, mental health toppled down, and numerous other terrible consequences. But there is a saying that what is bad must have at least a few specks of good and what is good must have at least a few specks of bad. Is this true in the case of viruses too? Yes, it is.
Viruses are tiny particles having genetic material within and wearing a protein coat outside. Every organism on our Earth has its own specific virus. Viruses can infect Animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and even viruses themselves.
Our universe was crafted in a way that good and bad cannot be separated beyond a certain extent. Anyone can walk through the good and must I even mention how good we humans are at nit-picking every little fault in the best. The difficult part is to walk through the bad and find the good. The covid-19 pandemic was the same, most of it a black desert with only a few silver linings like the betterment of the environment, the productivity boost in some people’s lives, the awareness of vaccines, and the awareness about mental health.
Viruses are a part of us: Viruses are a part of the human microbiome. Most of us know there are good bacteria just like pathogenic bacteria. But did you know there are good viruses too? These form an important part of our microbiome and don’t harm us but rather may safeguard our health. Some retroviruses are involved in creating the first immunity barriers in a fetus. Retroviruses are ancient viruses that have been transmitted through genes over many many generations.
Vaccines: Viruses are useful to make vaccines. Vaccines like smallpox, polio, and MMR vaccines have been some of the most successful vaccines to be made. One might argue that ‘Vaccines are the correction of the harmful virus’ own wrongdoing. If it did not exist we would not need the particular vaccine. But we must know no one’s greater than nature and we must appreciate what we have instead of thinking about what we do not. Researchers work hard to provide us with these protective shields and must be appreciated for their efforts. The only human disease to be eradicated completely is Smallpox, this was the first-ever vaccine and it was made from the Cowpox virus which caused almost no harm to humans. Although Smallpox and Cowpox viruses are related, the Cowpox virus was a real breakthrough and very beneficial for us humans.
Research: Viruses are an integral part of biological study. A lot of our present knowledge of genes, immunology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and molecular biology is a gift from viruses. Advancements in these fields require viruses for various purposes like gene rearrangement, genetic cloning, as vectors, and so on. Research is incomplete without viruses.
Evolution: An extremely interesting fact is that a whopping 8% of our human genome comes from ancient retroviral genes which have transferred as an infection between evolving species. For example, we share these retroviruses with chimpanzees. These retroviruses are a pillar of evidence of human evolution from chimpanzees. Some other theories claim that a virus could have been the first organism to have existed but nothing about the first-ever organism is for sure.
Phage Therapy: The most useful viruses for us are bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and will not harm humans. Phage therapy is based on the principle that bacteriophages will infect and kill specific harmful bacteria and give us relief from these harmful bacteria. So bacteriophages can be an alternative to antibiotics. Research is underway but bacteriophages have some advantages over antibiotics. Bacteria can find ways to defend themselves against antibiotics and bacteriophages. This is called developing resistance against antibiotics/ bacteriophages. That is why old antibiotics are often ineffective against bacteria and there is pressure to discover new ones. So what advantage do bacteriophages have over antibiotics? Unlike antibiotics, bacteriophages can develop new ways to infect bacteria. Both bacteria and bacteriophage will evolve and thus bacteria would not be able to become permanently resistant to these.
There are many more ways viruses are useful to us, like virophages used to kill larger viruses, and how they could be our next solution to Cancer using nanotechnology. You can learn more about it here:
Find out more!
Use of Viruses in Cancer
Virus: Good or Bad?
Viruses as dreadful as they are, it is humanity that has to choose whether to keep them categorized as bad or to find the good!