Simply put, viruses are winners in the game of life. Viruses are the most abundant life-form in the world and more than 99.9 percent of viral species remain unstudied. Genetic diversity on planet earth is a story of viral diversity. Viruses have been found in seemingly inhospitable locations like deep-sea vents, glacial ice, as well as extremely hot and acidic springs. They are nomadic-constantly floating among cells, bodies, and populations, jumping species and moving between domains of life. These infectious agents are world-forming as well as world-destroying. Other viruses that enter your body belong to the insects, fungi, animals, and bacteria living within us, or near us.
Of the billion or so viral particles you encounter each day, you bump into some that are capable of infecting human cells. Viruses enter your body each time you take a bite of food or a drink of water.
With every breath, you inhale around six liters of air with thousands (or even millions) of viral particles. You have always lived within the virosphere-the vast but poorly understood universe of viruses. Confined to your own apartment or small social bubble, you might have thought you were beyond the sphere of viral influence. Perhaps you thought you could isolate yourself from viruses during the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic.
0 kommentar(er)
