Who is looking for trillions of viruses in the human body

The viruses we know most are the virus that makes people sick, such as the virus that causes flu and seasonal passes. But in a healthy body, there are countless viruses that do not cause human disease. Scientists estimate that tens of trillion viruses live in the human body, although they have a very small part. The vast majority of viruses are quite benign, even some viruses are beneficial. We are not sure about them because most of the virus systems in humans are still mysterious, according to New York Times.

This year, 5 universities cooperated in unprecedented searching to identify these viruses. Researchers will collect saliva, stool samples, blood, milk and many other samples from thousands of volunteers. The 5 -year -long program named Virus system with a budget of $ 171 million from the federal government, will check the sample with an artificial intelligence system (AI), hope to learn the impact virus system. How to human health, according to Frederic Bushman, microbiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the program directors.

The first clue of the virus system appeared more than a century ago. During the analysis of stool samples, scientists discovered that viruses called bacteria can be infected with bacteria inside the intestine. Bacteria also exist in the mouth, lungs and skin. Later, scientists realized that the virus spreads our cells without causing any large symptoms. For example, most of the world’s population infected with Cytomegalovirus (CMV), species can live in all organs.

In the early 2000s, new genetic solutions helped scientists find more viruses in saliva, blood and stool. Technology also allows them to estimate the number of viruses in the human body through counting the genetic copy of the virus. They discovered that each gram contains billions of bacteria. Each person can contain hundreds, even thousands of bacterial species. But when biologists tested from one to the other, they noticed a variety of viruses in a person who was absent in others. The more people studied, the more they discovered more and more bacterial species.

The virus infects to diverse human cells. In 1997, Japanese researchers tested a patient’s blood and discovered a completely new virus called Anellovirus. Last year, a study revealed that more than 800 species of Anellovirus, bringing the total number of viruses known to more than 6,800.

Some recent studies on virus systems have raised questions about how to define viruses. A standard virus includes protein shells containing gene encoded both in double twisted DNA and single RNA fiber. But scientists realize that the human body also contains extremely small RNA rings. Scientists still do not know much about the virus system in humans. The virus is so small that they can hide inside the cell without being detected. Some may even hide their genes into the host’s DNA for many years before multiply.

Dr. Parris Sabeti, Computer Biologist at Th Chan Public Health School of Harvard University and colleagues are developing an artificial intelligence system that the virus program in humans will deploy to detect the these. genetic characteristics of the virus. The researchers will then try to determine what that virus does inside the human body. Scientists often consider bacteria as bacteria, kill them to create more copies. But the recent experiment indicates a much more complex relationship. “They do not fight to death but have a collaborative relationship,” Colin Hill, microbiologist at the APC Microbiome Ireland Research Center, said.

For example, in the human body, bacteria often do not kill the host bacteria. Bacteria can benefit from sex with bacteria, help eliminate genes from host bacteria, which can enhance their survival. This cooperation can be good for human health. Recent research shows that bacteria are distributed in self -defense genes that the body has the ability to use to repel pathogens on the skin.