VIRUSES AND US*

There is an unfathomable number of viruses in and around us all the time. There are more viruses on Earth than stars in the known universe.
Among the most primitive living replicating things in existence— simpler than plants—they have great power over us: they have the potential to change our world, our personal essence, the core of our being.

Tiny bits of genetic material enclosed by a protective shell,
they sit lifeless and inert waiting for a favorable environment in which to reproduce.

They have multiple methods of spreading.  They can be carried
by insects and droplets in the air. They escape via water droplets
expelled from the air of the lungs, sweat from sweat glands and exuded from other body parts as fluids. They can be transmitted from infected surfaces where they land to unwilling hosts.

Viruses enter our bodies and travel to find their way inside the DNA of our cells. Once inside, a chain reaction of molecular events is set in motion. The virus attaches itself to the outer wall of the cell, enters inside it, and travels to the cell’s genome. There it merges with the host’s genes and commandeers the cells to make more copies of itself. Viruses are the ultimate parasites, producing as many as a million in all tissues of the body before it dies. From a Darwinian point of view, viruses are extremely successful. They are diverse and ever-evolving.

Scientists have discovered that the traits that make them effective at transmitting disease also make them an essential part of our genetic makeup.  In 2016, researchers at the University of Utah discovered a gene called Arc that plays a role in the ability to make memories. Mice with a mutation in the Arc gene, can find their way through a maze to the cheese at its center, while mice with the normal Arc gene can’t remember the route by the next day. In humans, changes to the Arc gene have been linked to disorders ranging from schizophrenia to dementia. Most amazing, the researchers discovered that this memory gene is a modified virus! Additionally, a German team found that as many as 85 genes derived from viruses may be a work in different parts of the brain and in pregnancy. They conclude that viruses have contributed to our genome over the eons to account for a range of important human qualities.

Deeper mapping of the human genome has revealed ancient viruses hiding inside our genomes and that almost 8% of the human genome is made up of viruses. These viruses that once infected us and our world for a history of four billion years have been rendered inactive. Astounding too is the finding that we have four times more viral genetic material inside our genome than our own genes!

In other words, our genome is a graveyard for ancient viruses that attacked our ancestors’ genomes eons ago. They were disabled and have become remnants of past infections. In current terminology, the hacker, the invading parasite, can be hacked to our benefit.

Although the current situation is entirely new and different to us, I am assured by knowing that, since the beginning of time, for worse and better, viruses have played a part in our lives, deaths and evolution.

Although we’ve lost a good deal of control in our lives now,
we can celebrate our free will to choose to be safe, to keep our social distance, and wash our hands! And we can explore some ways to be creative in our own space. For example, a woman I know started a yeast culture and is learning to crochet.

Dear Reader, I welcome your comments. Please share the ways you have discovered to enrich your life in your own space. Jsimon145@gmail.com

*With thanks to Neil Shubin and his March 14, 2020 article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Viruses That Shaped Our DNA.”