
CRISPR-like ‘immune’ system discovered in giant virus - Amorymeltzer
http://www.nature.com/news/crispr-like-immune-system-discovered-in-giant-virus-1.19462
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bitwize
Getting a look at that mimivirus makes me think whatever gets infected by it
failed its saving roll.

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haberman
I think you mean "role", though I love the image of a virus rolling a d6 to
determine whether it succeeded or failed.

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marshray
What, did you see the picture?

That virus is literally a D20.

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dnautics
pretty much all virii are "D20"s.

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marshray
Really? The pictures I've seen of ebola make it look like spaghetti.

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Amorymeltzer
You're quite right, GP is being mistakenly over-broad. Mimivirus (APMV) is an
encapsidated virus, and the capsid is what forms that shape. Capsids[1]
generally contain the DNA or RNA of the virus' genome and often appear quite
geometric. Capsids have a T-number, which determines how many faces of
triangles or hexagons+pentagons exist. It's a deeply mathematical field of
study since these are, essentially, tiny repetitive building blocks.

Some (tobacco mosaic virus being the most famous) are helical, while others
(bacteriophages) look completely different[2]. Viruses appearing spherical are
generally enveloped, meaning they contain part of the cellular plasma membrane
surrounding their capsid (HIV). Ebola is part of the filovirus family[3],
which are characterized by, among other things, their long, filamentous shape
(hence the name).

1:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsid)

2:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage)

3:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filoviridae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filoviridae)

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tallerholler
this is fascinating... makes me want to go back to school and study viruses
(what field would that be?)

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ridgeguy
Virology, I believe.

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alariccole
Really makes you wonder if viruses were the first forms of life, contrary to
popular opinion.

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venomsnake
No. The viruses were probably the second. You need some form of self
replicating metabolism, before having a virus to be able to feed on it.

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mc808
I would imagine the earliest forms of life (proto-life if we use cellular
structure in the definition of life) were free-floating strands of genetic
material, more similar to viruses than to fully formed cells. Or if that's on
the right track, we could say the first "cells" were large bowls of the
primordial soup.

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therein
Take a look at the videos at this link. (the ones showing the fatty acids
holding onto each other)

[http://exploringorigins.org/fattyacids.html](http://exploringorigins.org/fattyacids.html)

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millettjon
There is a related Radiolab episode:
[http://www.radiolab.org/story/shrink/](http://www.radiolab.org/story/shrink/)

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danjayh
Fascinating article, but it was hard for me to get past 'Immune defence'. I'm
sure they meant no offence, but it coloured the rest of the text for me. (If
it had been on a .co.uk, I'd have left them alone, scout's honour).

