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A Truly Alive Virus

Posted by michael on from the cross-breed dept.

cyclop writes "Microbiologists are puzzled by the genome sequence of the giant Mimivirus. It seems this virus has even more genes than many bacteria, is able to synthesize its own proteins and therefore is, by definition, alive. 'We are seeing an organism here. There is DNA, RNA and plenty of proteins,' says Didier Raoult, who reports the work in this week's Science."

4 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Um, no.... by slowtech · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Having DNA coding for a lot of proteins does not make a virus alive. This virus has a lot of DNA (the poxvirii do as well), but that does not mean it has a metabolism. Virii use their host's metabolism to produce proteins.

    Whether you think virii are alive or not, there is nothing about this virus that suggests (from the linked PubMed abstract) that this virus is qualitatively different from any other.

    --
    "Well it's not Victory - but then it's not Death either."
  2. Evolution proof ? by Jesrad · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This virus is not yet self-reproducting, but I think it might just evolve a bit more and complete that last step. It's a nice demonstration of evolution in action, I think.

    --
    Maybe we deserve this world ?
    1. Re:Evolution proof ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting


      This virus is not yet self-reproducting, but I think it might just evolve a bit more and complete that last step. It's a nice demonstration of evolution in action, I think.

      Perhaps it was once a bacterium which lost its selfreproductivity in a bid to maximize parasitivity.

    2. Re:Evolution proof ? by Ayaress · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Perhaps it was once a bacterium which lost its selfreproductivity in a bid to maximize parasitivity.

      Evolution or not, that would have been my first guess, too, from its size and the volume of its genome. However, if that were the case, you'd expect the genes it does have to be like their equivalents in bacteria, which isn't the case. The cnrs.fr link says that it shares key gene sturctures in common with viruses like smallpox.

      An interesting possibility would be that it's actually a sort of "hybrid." A mutation in the protien structure of the viral coat might cause the abnormally large size (a reduction in the bonding angles, perhaps), allowing for the fused genome of the host bacterium and the original virus, along with various key molocules from the bacterium to all be packaged into the virus, instead of just the viral DNA alone.