In what is both strange and astonishing, scientists have discovered a virus resembling a "vampire" after it was found to have "bitten" another larger virus and attached itself to it in a biological mutation that aids its survival. The unusual virus was discovered by Tajidi de Carvalho, director of the imaging unit at the University of Maryland, in March 2020 while examining a soil sample. It was identified as a bacteriophage, which are viruses that infect bacteria and are among the most numerous organisms on Earth, with millions found in a single gram of soil.
"Anything is possible with viruses," de Carvalho remarked, noting that she did not expect to see a virus attached to another by its "neck." She stated, "I literally saw hundreds of them, and it was obvious that it was not random. We know viruses do some interesting things, but no one expected this," as reported by the Washington Post.
De Carvalho and her colleagues presented their findings at the International Society for Microbial Ecology, where the study noted that the small virus, named MiniFlayer, lost the ability to reproduce within cells, leading to a biological evolution where it attached to another virus, dubbed MindFlayer. When they enter cells together, MiniFlayer utilizes its viral partner's genetic mechanisms for replication.
Evan Eril, de Carvalho's assistant, likened the virus to a "vampire" that sinks its teeth into its prey after observing "bite" marks on MindFlayer. He stated, "Viruses can do anything. They are the most creative force in nature, but no one expected they would do something like this."
Terry Dukeland, a microbiology professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who did not participate in the study, found the observation of the linked bacteriophages intriguing but called for more imaging and research to draw stronger conclusions about the interaction. It is noted that there are billions of "bacteriophages" in the human gut, helping to combat harmful bacteria.
