Never-before-seen GIANT virus found that's so unusual it may have come from Mars

[dkf]

Scientists have found a new virus thought to be the biggest ever seen on Earth.

The virus, dubbed Pandoravirus, is one micrometre big - up to ten times the size of other viruses - and only six per cent of its genes resemble anything seen on Earth before.

This has led French researchers to believe the virus may have come from an ancient time or even another planet, such as Mars.

However, the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Science, believe that the virus opens up a range of questions about the history of life on Earth.

Dr Jean-Michel Claverie of Aix-Marseille University in France, who found the virus, told NPR: ‘We believe that these new Pandoraviruses have emerged from a new ancestral cellular type that no longer exists.’

---

Dr Claverie explained that because the virus is very big and lacks the regular shape normally associated with viruses, he initially thought it was a small bacterium.

His team went on a hunt for giant viruses after a survey identified signs of them in seawater.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2370100/Scientists-GIANT-Pandoravirus-come-alien-planet.html#ixzz2ZbUB2QAU

I admit when I first saw the title of the article I found it hilarious but the info sounds intriguing. And yes it's the daily mail...nuff said.

[RedCappedBandit]

1. The New York Times has an article about this, too

Nothing about mars though.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/science/changing-view-on-viruses-not-so-small-after-all.html?_r=0

Interesting that they have gone so long without being noticed, although they seem to be everywhere?

[dkf]

2. Fascinating!!! It's amazing how much we still do not know.

[DirkGently]

3. They come in peace. Or DO THEY?????!!!!!

[dkf]

4. Lol

[BlueJazz]

27. They said they are here to serve man.

[Aerows]

33. With a nice Chianti and fava beans?

[pinboy3niner]

39. The REALLY predatory giant viruses are a bit more subtle

[Aerows]

40. LMAO!

You are hilarious, my friend!

[pinboy3niner]

43. How would we survive...

...if we couldn't have some fun here along the way?

It's always a pleasure dancing with you, my friend.

[Aerows]

44. We wouldn't

and your jokes lighten my day, my friend, always!

[pinboy3niner]

5. I imagine Mars came up this way...

"Journalist": Doctor, could this virus have come from Mars?

Researcher: We have no evidence that would indicate its origin.

"Journalist": So you're not ruling out Mars, then...

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. LOL yep. n/t

[randome]

7. .

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[pinboy3niner]

8. The Daily Mail's crack reporter!

Emphasis on 'crack'.

[kestrel91316]

9. That man is a freak. Apparently during that entire series he never once

got that unruly mop cut.

[randome]

11. Must have been the humidity in the studio. Or maybe a viral infection.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[pinboy3niner]

12. I wonder where the viral infection might have come from. Hmmm...

[randome]

13. God only knows what lurks in that guy's hair! An entire B-movie universe.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Tree-Hugger]

36. It's the aliens

They are trying to abduct his hair.

[pinboy3niner]

37. Well, the 27th time should be probative. :) nt

[RedCappedBandit]

16. Lol, that's "journalism" for ya

[FSogol]

10. It is not giant, it is merely big-boned.

[Berlum]

14. I, for one, welcome our new Pandoravirus Overlords

[DirkGently]

23. They come bearing ancient knowledge. And fruit pies.

[FarCenter]

15. More likely it was once a bacteria or other single celled organism, which became a parasite

There is lots of stuff, like mitochondria, chloroplasts, and other organelles in eukaryotic cells which appear to have been single celled organisms in the past. They became symbionts in other cells.

These may have become parasites.

[pinboy3niner]

17. The Daily Mail reporter knows all about that stuff from a documentary he saw once...

[Duer 157099]

21. I think you have that backwards

viruses are less complex than bacteria, so it would have to devolve to have been a bacteria first.

Where is the evidence of symbiosis in this case?

ETA: Oh, I see what you mean, I think

The genome of the virus includes typical NCLDV core genes and genes apparently obtained from eukaryotic hosts and their parasites or symbionts, both bacterial and viral, through probably horizontal gene transfer mechanism.

and:

http://www.pnas.org/content/106/51/21848

[Matariki]

18. Oh, what could possibly go wrong....

[rugger1869]

19. Now, if there was just a way to weaponize them...

nm.

[Rex]

20. Oh, I thought they meant this guy

[Duer 157099]

22. I tend to think that small viruses are scarier than big ones

It's the little guys I worry about. At least big ones can be physically filtered out from stuff like water.

[NoOneMan]

26. This article isn't asking you to be scared of them at all

[Duer 157099]

28. It doesn't have to

I understand viruses enough to make up my own mind.

[NoOneMan]

29. ok, yeah, but thats not even the point

The point is that this is a fascinating and unique form of life that has been previously overlooked.

[Duer 157099]

30. Absolutely agree

All life forms fascinate me

[NoOneMan]

31. Even Evangelical Republicans?

[Duer 157099]

32. Yes, like a train wreck

I didn't say I like all life forms, just that they fascinate me. And some deserve to be dissected to try to understand.

[Scurrilous]

24. K & R

[MineralMan]

25. Mars, eh? Now that's Science!

Ugh.

[tabasco]

34. Been nice knowing y'all.

I'm headed for the hills.

[pinboy3niner]

35. well, you know what they say...

"The HILLS are aliiiiive ba-da-dum ba-dum dum..."

Good luck to ya!

[pinboy3niner]

38. Mars, LOL? I think not!

Venus is way ahead of them.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_the_Real_Martian_Please_Stand_Up%3F

[pinboy3niner]

41. ...

[HolyMoley]

42. We already have a vaccine for that