So, it turns out that a little microbe, a ciliate in the genus Halteria, has an interesting dietary pattern.
It eats viruses. And can get enough nutrition from them to survive. And it could be an important part of the food chain.
Also, could we domesticate this and use it to hoover up, say, RSV, from surfaces? Probably no better than what we already do. The virovory (yes, that's the technical term) is happening in water.
It could impact wastewater monitoring for infectious viruses, though. There's a lot more to study here!
No comments:
Post a Comment