Top 10 viruses that are beneficial to humans

Try asking someone with hepatitis or the flu if they find viruses good for their health. With such a question, a medically illiterate patient will send you home, but in vain, because the answer to it can be positive. Pathogenic microorganisms that actively multiply in the body with a weakened immune system are associated with the disease in everyone. Still – viral diseases always occur with pronounced unpleasant symptoms, have complications, and besides, they are very contagious.

From Latin, the word “virus” is translated as “poison”. But at one time, the great healer Paracelsus made it clear that toxins differ from drugs only in the chosen dosage. Therefore, today we offer you the TOP 10 unique viruses that are very important for human health and life.

10 GB virus C

This microorganism is known to physicians and scientists as the group G hepatitis virus. It is known that more than 1 billion of the world’s population are already carriers of this dangerous virus, without even suspecting that they are infected. However, a number of experiments demonstrate that when HIV patients also catch GB virus C, the progression of HIV slows down. Other scientists also suggest that GB virus C will help the patient with Ebola hemorrhagic fever to recover.

9. Stomatitis for the treatment of oncology

Did you think that stomatitis is just a human disease with mouth ulcers? There is a type of vesicular stomatitis virus (called VSV) that attacks horses and spreads to mammals and humans. In humans, it causes classic symptoms – signs of a mild cold and a rash in the mouth. Doctors have learned how to use genetically modified VSV for innovative treatment of liver cancer. It turns out that it can actively multiply in weakened cancer cells that have lost resistance to viral infections. The first experiments with cancer patients are already underway.

8. I’m teaching, thanks to the virus

In the first months of life, the brain, like a sponge, actively absorbs and assimilates new information, skills, and abilities. This is provided by a viral protein called Arc, which transports genetic material to neurons in a pathogen-host-carrier analogy. Scientists introduced a viral protein into bacterial cells, and when they began to produce it, a form was formed in the form of a capsid (a shell with the genetic data of the virus). The virus, “attached” to the genome of cells, falls asleep, and they begin to use its proteins for their own purposes. It is believed that in the future this mechanism will make it possible to establish new connections between neurons and brain cells, and this will allow us to get closer to understanding the formation of memories in humans.

7. Bacteriophages

These microorganisms exist in the body of every person on mucous surfaces. Their purpose is to attack and destroy harmful bacteria and germs. Five years ago, a study found that a bacteriophage was able, under other favorable conditions, to destroy E. coli. At the same time, they do not selectively attack or infect the cells of the host organism (including the human one). These viruses are believed to be among the most useful on the planet for fighting bacterial infections.

6. Thanks to the retrovirus for the live birth

It is known that live birth, which also occurs in humans, is a complex, painful and lengthy process. If asked and given a choice, then perhaps it would be more convenient for women, instead of the classic delivery, to lay eggs or spawn, like other animals. Surprisingly, we have to thank endogenous retroviruses for the lack of such an opportunity. The researchers found that these microorganisms are among the most ancient that appeared in our ancestors (we are talking about 60 million years ago), provoking a gene mutation. Against the background of it, the placenta, other reproductive organs and the possibility of live birth were formed in mammals. Also, the extension of intrauterine development has led to an increase in the size of the brain and, as a result, the evolution of mental abilities.

5. Viruses on guard of embryos

Studying the cells of a three-day embryo, doctors have identified a conglomerate of viral proteins in the composition. Some of them even began the process of combining into a kind of ready-made viral cells, influencing the genetic material of the embryo. For example, the Rec viral protein stimulated an increase in the concentration of the IFITM1 protein, which blocks the penetration of a viral infection into cells. It turns out that some viruses can protect embryonic cells from others – harmful “colleagues”. Rec also controlled the level of ribosomes in some cellular RNA (the process is still being studied by scientists).

4. You can’t poison gammaherpesviruses

Remember the whole “bouquet” of unpleasant and painful symptoms associated with food poisoning and intoxication. This condition is often caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. As the saying goes, “knock out a wedge with a wedge,” so another pathogen, gammaherpesvirus, can be used to counteract these bacteria. If the disease with its participation proceeds in a latent form, then it gradually increases the resistance of the immune system and the gastrointestinal tract to the bacteria. Doctors are studying how this process can be used to treat diarrhea and other symptoms of poisoning. Don’t worry, you don’t have to call herpes to prevent diarrhea.

3. Good and bad norovirus

These pathogens also cause symptoms of intoxication in the body: nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, flu-like symptoms, general weakness. Laboratory rodents are even less fortunate – due to their low resistance to viruses, they die without exception. Some strains have been found to be beneficial to rodents that have been raised under sterile conditions. It is known that in their body there was a deficiency of T- and B-cells, and this harmed the immune system and the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. When norovirus was added, the intestinal tissue grew, the protective properties of the body improved. Scientists hope to be able to use these strains for the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

2. The virus will save you from the heat

We can say that the most necessary virus for a person, ironically, is one that is not in the body. Plants use it to increase vitality in drought and hot climates. Such a virus attacks an endophyte fungus that grows on a tropical species of millet and makes it immune to high temperatures. Scientists have already been able to inoculate the virus to other plants (tomatoes), having received a temperature resistance of about 60ºС. However, when the virus was removed from the body, it began to lose heat resistance. This experiment, for all its usefulness, runs the risk of causing a new unhealthy genetically modified product to enter the market. Yes, and a person should not be artificially instilled with it – let’s better carry bottles of water and develop lightweight fabrics for summer weather.

1. Adenoviruses may help treat cancer

These pathogens are quite common on the globe, and they also have an increased contagiousness (fortunately, with moderate harm to the body). Most often, they cause gastroenteritis, colds and pneumonia in humans. At the same time, strain type 52 reacts with specific carbohydrates that inhabit cancer cells. Scientists are actively studying this ability of adenovirus, which makes it possible to gain a new type of cancer therapy.

These data once again prove that our planet is completely unexplored, and many more surprises lie in wait for scientists.