What is virus?
These are the main question what is virus? What is origin of virus? Virus and its varients so let's discuss. Scientifically, the origin of the virus was even before the beginning of the regular life of any living thing on earth. While scientific and historical evidence suggests that the effects of the virus on human life began as early as the Neolithic Period, about 12,000 years ago, it was the period when humans emerged from the Stone Age. From the cultural and evolutionary front to the path of electricity. As a result of rapid globalization and various types of development activities, the spread of the virus has also increased and this has led to many different types of global epidemics in the future.
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| Virus and its varients |
Types of viruses
These include the flu, small pox, yellow fever, and AIDS. Not only that, but because of the constant climate change, the constant increase in population and the increase in transportation, there are opportunities for different viruses to spread and affect humans, these viruses. These include viruses called dengue, chicken pox, rheumatoid arthritis, West Tile, Japanese encephalitis, influenza, corona, etc. These viruses actually transmit the disease to humans through their host organism, which is called vector in scientific language. Notable among these vectors are "mosquitoes, lice and ticks".
Origin of virus
One of the main reasons for the spread of the virus is that viruses have developed the ability to transmit disease from one host organism to another as a result of continuous climate change and evolutionary processes. In scientific terms, this process is called Cross Species Transmission. And so it would not be wrong to say that while globalization has led to many positive changes in human life as a result of continuous development, viruses may also accelerate their evolutionary process and increase the ability to cause disease and spread. The recent outbreak of the corona virus is a clear example of this.
It should be noted that the virus is one of the fastest evolving organisms in the world, while there is hardly any living thing in the universe that is safe from its effects. Even germs such as bacteria are not immune to its effects, which is why scientists have divided viruses into three major groups.
A group of viruses that only cause disease in animals and are called animal viruses, while viruses that cause disease in plants. They are called plant viruses. The virus that causes infections in bacteria is called bacteriophage. And it's easy to understand that viruses are actually host specific, meaning that the host of a particular virus is also special. It seems that every living thing on earth can be affected by some special virus.
That is why scientists believe that viruses are superior to all other organisms in terms of their numbers. Similarly, these viruses differ from each other in terms of their structure, size, and the nature of their genetic material. So scientists have classified viruses into different categories based on their characteristics. One of the most important classifications is based on the chemical composition of the virus's genetic material.
For example, viruses whose genetic material contains DNA are called DNA viruses, while viruses whose genetic material (Ribonucleic Acid) contains RNA are called RNA viruses. Is. Research has shown that viruses whose genomes contain RNA. During development, rapid changes in their genetic material, called autation or variation, take place, and thus such viruses evolve more rapidly. And as a result of this evolution, not only do these viruses increase their ability to spread the disease to more than one species, that is, they increase the number of their host target.
Rather, they increase the severity of the disease and develop the ability to protect themselves from the effects of drugs used against them. I have the virus that spreads the flu. These include the Influenza Virus, SARS-COV, MERS-COV and SARS-COV2 viruses. These are notable viruses. They have had a profound effect on human health and lives, not only in the past but also in the present, as a result of which millions of lives have been lost so far.
Variants of viruses
Influenza viruses and variants
It belongs to the family Orthomyxoviride. The genetic material of this virus consists of eight (8) pieces of RNA which make many proteins of this virus. The virus uses these proteins in its structural and other cellular functions. Two of the structural proteins of the influenza virus, called hemagglutinin (HA) and Neuraminidase (Neuraminidase), are thorny.
These proteins help the virus to enter its host cell. Not only that, but the role of these proteins is also important in causing disease in the host cell. Influenza viruses are classified into four groups based on certain characteristics. Influenza viruses A, B, C and D, while influenza virus A has proved to be the most dangerous of these four types of influenza viruses. And it has become the cause of many pandemic or epidemic flu.
In fact, the influenza virus infects not only humans but also birds and swine / pigs, so it is quite possible that the increasing human activity has led to a combination of human and animal influenza A viruses. A new configuration has taken place within the virus's genes, giving rise to a new subtupe of the virus. And it is possible that this new subtype may be more dangerous to humans. In scientific terms, this process is called gene reassortment.
In the case of influenza virus, its 8-piece unique RNA simplifies the process of genetic reassortment. However, the two structural genes of this virus, called HA and NA, make many different types of proteins on their own with minor changes. And so the mutations that result from these mutations give rise to new variants of the influenza virus, which are divided into different types using the terms HA and NA. Such as influenza A virus H1N1, H2N2, H3N2, H3N8 and so on. These variances of influenza virus have caused flu outbreaks in different periods.
If we take a brief look at the history of influenza virus, it is very difficult to accurately estimate the global outbreak caused by it. According to historians, the first outbreak of influenza virus in the world occurred in 1510, when the same influenza virus caused mutations and caused a global outbreak called Russian Flu from 1889 to 1893. In just four months, it had spread around the world, killing nearly one million people. The virus was named influenza virus A, H3N8. Twenty-five years later, the H1N1 strain of influenza virus infected the entire world between 1918 and 1919.
This global pandemic has been dubbed the Spanish Flu. The outbreak of the virus killed 5 million people in about a year. The H1N1 strain of influenza virus was originally created as a result of a genetic mutation in the bird flu virus, which targeted birds as well as humans. The flu spread to a large number of people and this time too millions of people lost their lives.
The outbreak was dubbed Asian Flu. The H2N2 strain is the result of a combination of three new genetic reassortment of birds in the human influenza virus H1N1. These three new mutations were caused by genes called NA, HA and PBA. Between 1968 and 1970, a new strain of influenza virus, H3N2, caused an outbreak called the Hong Kong flu, which killed 2 million people. The H3N2 variant actually originated from the genetic reassortment of HA and PBA, two genes of bird influenza virus in the H2N2 variant of the influenza virus, but this time the NA gene did not change. Interestingly, the global flu pandemic / epidemic from 1881 to 1970 was caused by the genetic reassortment of the flu virus in birds and humans.
The H1N1 strain of influenza virus was the cause of the 2009 and 2010 swine flu outbreaks, but this time the outbreak was caused by the human influenza virus strain H3N2, the bird influenza virus gene PB2 and American and Eurasian swine flu. The H1 and N1 genes came into being as a result of triple genetic reassortment. The flu outbreak has not only been limited to the influenza virus and its variants, but also the corona virus.
Corona virus and variants
Corona virus belongs to the family of viruses Corona viridae, its appearance is like a crown under an electron microscope. This is why it is called the Crown Like virus. This crown-like shape is actually due to the presence of a protein called spike on its surface. Corona viruses are further subdivided into four genera, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta corona viruses.
The genetic material of the corona virus also contains RNA. Corona can affect both animals and humans. The genome of this virus also produces a variety of structural and non-structural proteins. The genome of the corona virus produces four types of structural proteins, including Spike (s), Envelop (E). ), Membrane (M) and Nucleocapsid (N). This structural protein contains a protein called spike, which is attached to the outer surface of the virus like a crown.
This protein plays a key role in the virus entering its host organism and spreading the infection. Alpha corona viruses are the most common cause of the common cold, flu and respiratory illnesses, also known as seasonal flu. Viruses that are related to the beta corona virus can cause severe pneumonia in humans.
SARS COV (SARS COV) SARS COV2 MERS-COV which is the cause of the recent global epidemic known as COD 19. The virus has been shown to initially spread the flu infection only to bats. In other words, bats were the real hosts of this virus.
However, due to genetic mutations, the virus was transmitted from bats to animals in the form of palm civets and from the intermediate host to humans. The virus appears to have undergone changes that targeted bats as well as humans. The MERS-COV virus first appeared in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 10 years after the initial emergence of the SARS-COV virus. And this time, too, the onset of MERS-COV may have been from bats to camels and then to humans, meaning that positive genetic mutations within the virus helped to target the virus from bats to camels and then to humans. Although the virus did not wreak havoc on humans, the continuous evolutionary genetic mutations in the virus once again led to the global outbreak of the corona virus COVID-19 in 2019, the effects of which the world has yet to recover from.
SARS-Cov 2SARS-Cov2
When scientists began investigating the sudden outbreak of severe pneumonia in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, the rapidly spreading pneumonia was caused by a new type of corona virus called SARS-COV2. The genetic material contains about 82% of the genes of SARS-COV and 18 MERS-COV viruses.
This means that the hosts were flashy and that they underwent an evolutionary genetic mutation that transmitted to penguins, the middle host animals and then to humans. It seems that SARS-COV2 was actually transmitted from animals to humans as a result of cross species transmission. This process is also called viral zoonosis. The genetic material of this virus also contains RNA, as mentioned earlier, the virus whose genetic material is RNA. Their evolutionary process is much faster than that of other viruses, because the genetic mutation in the RNA virus during development is called mutation.
This happens more rapidly and that is why thousands of small mutations in the genetic material of this virus, called mutations in scientific language, have taken place during their spread in humans, and some of these mutations have been linked to SARS. Making the COV2 virus more powerful than ever, which not only increased the virus's ability to spread more rapidly in humans, increase the severity of the disease, and increase its growth by protecting itself from the human immune system.
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| Sars cov2 virus and its varients |
Scientists named these variants of the virus differently after looking at the effects of various genetic mutations in the virus on humans during a continuous study of the genetic material of the SARS-COV2 virus that has been circulating since 2019. Changed the variant of COV2 virus to simple Latin names. And then scientists divided these rapidly emerging new and more dangerous variants into two groups for further convenience. These are called variants of concern (VOCs) and VOIs (variation of interest).
VOC includes variants of SARS-COV2, which not only increase the ability of humans to spread rapidly but also increase the severity of the disease, change the symptoms of the disease, such as the appearance of new types of symptoms, health and social measures. This includes a reduction in the effectiveness of the treatment or vaccine. Also, the virus has spread all over the world. WHO has included 5 variants of SARS-COV2 virus in the list of VOC after genetic study of virus variants and testing of their characteristics or new capabilities. Whose names are as follows.
Alpha Variant whose scientific name is B.1.1.7. This variant was launched in the UK in December 2020. A study of the alpha variant's genome observed 17 mutations in the virus's genome, eight of which were in the part of the virus's genome that forms the spike routine of the virus. Spike proteins are proteins that help the virus to attach to its host cell. This is the first and most important step in spreading the infection.
Beta variant scientific name B.1.351 This variant was launched in December 2020 in South Africa. During the genetic study of the virus, the scientists observed changes in the spike protein of the virus in 9 places. These changes increased the variant's ability to stick to its host.
The Gamma Variant is the scientific name for P.1. It originated in Brazil when ten different changes were observed in its spike routine, which accelerated its spread. The scientific name of Delta Variant is B.1.6.172, this variant is from India. Emerged and spread rapidly throughout the world. The SPIkE protein of this virus also showed ten different mutations. The scientific name of Omicron Variant is B.1.1.529. This variant was first reported in South Africa in November 2021 and has now become the fastest spreading variant of SARS-Cov2 worldwide.
More than 30 mutations in the virus's genome were observed in the virus's spike protein. As a result of these changes, the virus became 13 times faster than the Delta variant. VOIs, also known as variants of interest, are currently included in this class of variants of the SARS-COV2 virus. VOTs include variants that have genetic mutations that cause the virus to spread more rapidly, but also cause complications in the diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of vaccines and the immune system. The effects are beginning to subside and the virus is spreading over a large area.
Currently, two variants of the SARs COV2 virus have been added.
1. The Lambda variant, whose scientific name is C.37, developed the virus in June 2021 in Peru.
2. MU Scientific B.1.621, the virus began to spread from August 2021 to the American city of Long.
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Most of the mutations in these variants of the virus were also found in its protein called spike, which increased the severity and other properties of the virus. In addition to these variants of the SARs-COV2 virus, there are many other variants. These variants of the SARs-COV2 virus, which have been specially observed due to their study of genetic mutations and the consequent increase in their potential, but because of the genetic mutations that have been included in their research. These viruses have not been further studied, as the virus's ability to spread disease may not have increased or may have diminished.
Finally, it would be fair to say that the ongoing climate change, the growing human population and their activities have greatly accelerated the evolution of the virus and the resulting spread, and there is a need for global zoonosis to spread from animals to humans. Institutions should be set up to diagnose not only the effects of climate change on animals and the diseases they cause, especially those caused by viruses, but also the likelihood of the virus spreading to humans. Appropriate strategies should be developed to prevent this, including the development of vaccines, so that the coming epidemic can be prevented.