Meet the Pandora Virus
The Western scientific journal Science published an article stating that scientists have found the largest virus in the world. The new species turned out to be so unlike most known types of viruses that scientists decided to call their discovery the “Pandora virus” (or Pandoravirus).
“We believe that we have opened a real Pandora's box. Only this discovery most likely affects not all of humanity as a whole, but only the established knowledge of virology. We believe that we may have an alternative tree of life in front of us, ”said Dr. Jean-Michel Clavier in an interview with The Week.
For the first time, a strain of this virus was discovered off the coast of Las Cruces in Chile. The second time, scientists found the exact same virus already in Melbourne, Australia. The first find was called Pandoravirus salinus, and the second was nicknamed Pandoravirus dulcis.
The size of the new virus is 1000 times larger than the size of the ordinary flu virus and at least twice the size of the “megavirus”, which until then rightfully belonged to the title of the largest virus. Scientists say that a new species can be discerned even in the most ordinary microscope, without resorting to the use of modern electron microscopes.
It is reported that the "Pandora virus" contains an impressive amount of 2556 genes. And only 7 percent of these genes are similar to those that are already familiar to scientists. And that is exactly what makes it so different from other types of viruses.
The virus itself does not pose a threat to humans and lives mainly under the thickness of ocean water.
The article is based on materials .
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