Discover the world's largest, most complex virus strain

Scientists at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the UK have discovered the Cafeteria roenbergensis virus, which has the world's largest and most complex number of base bases (730,000 pairs).

Illustration. (Internet) The Cafeteria roenbergensis is primarily infectious in important plankton-eating objects and widely distributed in marine ecosystems.

According to scientists, it is common for viruses to not self-replicate when they are outside the cells of a virus-carrying object. The virus only replicates itself by taking advantage of the virus's protein. The form of self-replication is the dividing line between " having life " and " having no life. "

However, the detection of a large number of base pairs in the Cafeteria roenbergensis has challenged the standard of virus self-replication.

Although the Cafeteria roenbergensis virus still needs a cell to replicate, they do transcription right in their own genome.

Scientist Curtis Sisubutler of the University of British Columbia said: " The scientists all know the important role of plankton in the process of circulating nutrients and moving carbon between saltwater systems and freshwater systems. However, the role of Cafeteria roenbergensis in the above statistics is not known. "

He said the possibility of the Cafeteria roenbergensis is representative of a virus strain that has never been known and plays an important role in ecosystems.