New alarm bells after Corona: Scientists find 5,500 new viruses in the sea; These can cause new diseases in the future

While the whole world has been battling the coronavirus for the last two years, now scientists have discovered 5,500 new viruses in the sea. Researchers from Ohio State University in America say that like corona, they are also RNA viruses. It is a matter of concern that the discovered virus is also present in the Arabian Sea of ​​India and the northwestern areas of the Indian Ocean.

A study was done on all the seas of the world

This study has recently been published in the journal Science. To find the virus, scientists took 35 thousand samples of water from 121 areas of all the seas of the world. In the investigation, they found about 5,500 new RNA viruses. These belonged to 5 existing species and 5 new species.

Researcher Matthew Sullivan says that the number of new viruses according to the samples is very low. It is possible that in the future millions of viruses will be found.

Diseases caused by new viruses will be investigated

Scientists say that this research has been done about specific RNA viruses because scientists have done less study on them as compared to DNA viruses. According to Sullivan, today we know of only those RNA viruses that have put the world at risk of death. These include corona, influenza, and Ebola viruses. Therefore, to avoid new diseases in the future, we must be prepared in advance.

Virus species named Taravaricota are present in every sea.

Research has found 5 new virus species named Taraviricota, Pomiviricota, Paragenoviricota, Vamoviricota and Arctiviricota. Of these, Taravaricota species have been found in every sea of ​​the world. At the same time, viruses of the Arctiviricota species were found in the Arctic Sea.

According to Sullivan, from the point of view of ecology, then this discovery is very important. The study is part of a global project called the Tara Oceans Consortium to investigate marine climate change.

Very old genes are found in all viruses

The study found an ancient gene named RdRp in all RNA viruses. It is believed that this gene is billions of years old. Since then, it has evolved several times. How did RdRp originate, what is its function in the virus, how dangerous is it for humans, and it will take a long time for scientists to answer all these questions?

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