What would be the fate of this earth if the virus didn’t exist?

Virus is an acellular entity with nucleoprotein. Virus nucleic acid is DNA or RNA never both,
replicates only in living cells. Virus lacks its own replication machinery and ATP generating
system. Virus totally depends on its host for multiplication and has the characteristics of both
living and non-living things.(1)
Viruses are present worldwide having a vital role in life. Some viruses are beneficial for living life
while other are harmful and can even leads to death of the living entities. These viruses causes
disease in animals, plants, humans and other living organisms as well. There are many types of
viruses according to their shapes and chracteristics. Some viruses are artificially made in the
laboratories for our benefit and used in different applications. (2)

Importance of Viruses

Majority of viruses in the world are not pathogenic to human, most of them play a vital role in
ecosystem to maintain proper balance. We wouldn't be able to survive if viruses didn't perform
ecosystem services that we rely on. Viruses have a critical part in our evolution and survival.
Viruses are also necessary for the survival of biodiversity. Some viruses maintain the health of
individuals organisms e.g fungi, plants and human from other cause diseases and infections.

Beneficial viruses play a vital role in different fields, e.g. Viruses are used in agriculture,
industries, biological studies, medicines, bacteriophage thearpy, gene therapy, vaccine
development, human health, plant protection and growth, maintaing biodiversity and many other

applications.(3)
 ROLE OF VIRUSES

Role of Viruses in Ecosystem

Aquatic Ecosystem:

Viruses play an major role in the management of both freshwater and saltwater environments. In
aquatic ecosystem huge no. of viruses are bacteriophages, which cause no harm to animals and
plants. By the process of phtotsysnthesis, half organic material is produced in the oceans. Organic
material is used by new heterotrophic microoragnisms fortheir growth e.g bacteria and archea.
They infect bacteria and kill them in aquatic microbial communities, which is the most essential
process for carbon recycling in the ocean. The viruses encourage new bacterial and algal growth
by releasing organic compounds from the bacterial cells. (3)

Molecular methods were used by researchers to identify the genetic codes of some viruses present
in the oceans attacking microbes, and it was observed that some of them are able to supply genetic
material that codes for essential components of the photosynthetic mechanism. Viruses may
potentially aid in the transfer of photosynthesis-related genes from one bacterial strain to another.
(4)

The single-celled bacteria known as cyano-bacteria are capable of producing oxygen and trapping
away carbon dioxide in large portions of the oceans. Viruses also playe role in the desstruction of
harmful algal blooms. This means that the viruses related death will enhances the net respiration,
emission of CO2 and nutrient recycling in the world’s oceans. (4)

Carbon Recycling

Nitroge Recycling

Oxygen Recycling

Provide organic
compound
Terrestrial ecosystem:
Viruses are major microscopic pathogens that influence global biogeochemical cycles. Viruses
control carbon cycling processes through altering material cycles and energy fluxes in the food
chain, as well as the bacterial cycle that modulates Emissions of carbon dioxide from degradation
of organic matter. Viruses contribute to the carbon cycle of Earth ecosystems is 8.6, with a lower
contribution to marine ecosystems (1.4) than to terrestrial (6.7) and freshwater (17.8). Climate
change and human activities have affected the regulatory impact of virus. This has become
especially noticeable in the last 200 years as a result of fast industrialization and increase in
population. The global C cycle may be accelerated by the growing acceleration of virus
transmission and reproduction.(3)

Viruses also have an impact on primary productivity since they kill diatoms, dinoflagellates, and
cyanobacteria as well as release nutrients. They have also a very important role for carbon
recycling. Most viral research has focused on quantifying viral abundance and taxonomy in soils,
which may be the world's largest biosphere.

Viruses also offers a variety of plant-related services. Viruses are found in the rhizosphere of
plants. They made symbiotic relationship with plants and help them for survial in extreme
conditions and protect them from fungus. Viruses can be found in some of the world's toughest
conditions, from hot springs to high saline seas. These viruses are known as microbial predators.
Researchers have also revealed that certain viruses can make some plants drought resistant and
cold tolerance, these findings that could be valuable for increasing crop ranges.(5)

Help Plants to Provide nutrients

Survive in extreme Carbon Recycling to other
conditions Organisms
Role of Viruses in Biodiversity:
Viruses are also necessary for the survival of biodiversity. Viruses not only contain a large portion
of the Earth's genetic variety, but they also add biodiversity by infecting species that
can outcompete all others. A virus will come through and wipe off a species if it becomes
overpopulated. It's a natural element of ecosystems, and the process is known as "kill the winner."
It is frequent in species population control, e.g insects and pests and many other species, including
our own, as pandemics have already shown. When populations become too dense, viruses
proliferate quickly and wipe out the population, leaving space for everything else to thrive.
Competitive species would likely thrive at the expense of others if viruses suddenly vanished.
Bacteriohages control bacterial populations in the ocean and other ecosystem in the world.(3)

Role of viruses in Evolution

Viruses play important role in the evolution, they have shaped life on earth for millions of years.
They evolved billions of years before our forefathers evolved multi cellular. Despite this, humans
and all other forms of life have evolved to coexist with the viruses that infect them over time.(6)

Viruses exerting significant selection pressure on their hosts and altering the entire environment.
They transfer genes among different species, due to which genetic diversity increase and drives
evolution. Some viral sequences are ubiquitously transmitted throughout the biosphere. Viruses
successfully infect and reproduce on microorganisms from one habitat to other different
ecosystems Viruses move around the world and they transfer genes among the ecosystems. Viruses
play a early role in evolution before the diversification of last universal common ancestor into
bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Viruses are still one of the largest reservoirs of unexplored
genetic diversity in universe.

Viruses play a important role in the origin of DNA and their replication, pathogenicity alternative
genetic codes, cellular envelopes and the formation of the three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria,
and Eukarya, as identified by 16S rRNA comparison.

“Life would not long remain possible in the absence of microbes.”—Louis Pasteur

"Evolution is just the way that organisms respond to changes in the environment, and in this case
they are definitely our friends because they have shaped how our genome works now”
 Application of Viruses

Gene
Therapy

Bacteriophag Biological
e Therapy Studies

Application
of Viruses
Plant
Medicines &
protection &
Vaccines
growth

Industrial &
Agriculture

 Bacteriophage Therapy:
The use of bacteriophage viruses with the purpose of decreasing or eradicating harmful and disease
causing bacteria is known as phage therapy. Phage therapy has now become a widely applicable
technology, with applications in medicine, agriculture, and food microbiology.

Phage therapy have great importance in treating those bacterial diseases which are not curable and
resistant to antibiotics and this therapy can be used in combination with other drugs or antibiotics.
Phage therapy target individual bacterial species rather than wiping out entire bacterial populations
as antibiotics do. But the dosage of phage therapy is still unknown and how much time gene
therapy will take to be effective against such disease.(8)

 Gene therapy:
Cancer is a multiple genetic disease in which tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes are both
mutated. Gene therapy using vectors containing gene which inhibit growth of tumor and activate
immune responses opposed tothe tumour that can stop or reverse cancer growth.(9)

Most viruses are used as gene delivery vector hat have been transformed e.g Adenoviruses.
Viruses were ideal for building viral vector systems because of their potential to carry therapeutic
genes. Vectors used in the labs are based on RNA and DNA viruses that process genomic
structures and host ranges that are extremely different. Some of the viruses are used to transfer
gene because of their capability to contain foreign genes and to successfully transfer these genes
linked with effective gene expression.(9)

 Oncolytic viruses in Theraputics:

"Viruses have saved a lot of lives when antibiotics have failed," Suttle adds. Oncolytic viruses are
those, which infect and destroy cancer cells selectively, are also being investigated as a less toxic
and more effective cancer therapy. Therapeutic viruses operate "like little microscopic guided
missiles that enters there and blast out the cells we don't even need," whether they're targeting
dangerous bacteria or cancer cells. According to Goldberg, "Viruses are required for a number of
research and development projects that will lead to the next era of treatments."(10)

 Beneficial viruses for human health:

Benign viruses which cause infection can even also assist people to fight against other infections.
GB virus C, is a common blood-borne human virus that is associated with HCV and HIV-positive
people, which play role in delayed development to AIDS. But in recent research scientists
discovered that the GB virus C reducing the threat of death in Ebola suffering patients.
Similarly, mice with herpes are less vulnerable to bacterial illnesses such as bubonic plague and
listeri (a type of food poisoning). It would be immoral to infect people with herpes virus, bubonic
plague, or listeria in order to reproduce the mice experiment, but the researchers believe their
findings in rats are likely to apply to humans. They explain that whereas lifelong herpes virus
infection is "usually seen as entirely harmful," their findings imply that herpes enters a "symbiotic
relationship" with its host by giving immunological advantages. All living organisms may be more
susceptible to various illnesses if viruses do not exist. (11)

 Beneficial viruses for Plants:

Beneficial viruses are those which gives plants a characteristic that boosts their value or growth
rate by drug delivery while reducing the need of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Recent research
has revealed that viruses play a outstanding role in plants, particularly in harsh conditions cold,
extreme soil temperature and deficiency of nutrients and water.(9)

Useful viruses that increase the appearance of ornamental plants are some of the best viruses
introduced in plants. TBV (Tulip breaking virus) was actually the first in the list of beneficial
viruses, but other beneficial viruses includes TMV, BMV and CMV which keep the plant from
harsh conditions such as nutrient deficient and freezing temperature in different plants.(9)

Biological studies:

Viruses are used for the biological studies to gain gain information of molecular and cellular
biology studies. Viruses used to control and exploree the functions of cells. Viruses are widely
used in genetic studies. They used to study deeply about DNA replication, RNA formation,
transcription, , translation, protein and immunology.(12)

Biological warfare:

Viruses are very small, but have ability to cause death of large populations. In epidemics and
pandemics, viruses effect and kill the large no. of population. Viruses could be used for biological
warfare.(12)

Viruses and biological pest control:

Viruses are used to control the pests, which damage crops and plants. It is important to control
agents to protect human and their health. Types of viruses used for biological pest control attack on
organism as a pathogen to cause disease or may be competing species. Virusess can produce long-
lasting effects. Viruses also spread among the target population. Viruses are less toxic than
conventional pesticides.(13)

 Viruses in medicine:
Viral vectors are used to transport drug, which is used to target cells to treat disease. They are
utilized widely for the treatment of heritable disorders, genetic engineering and malignant tumor.
(14)

 Vaccines:
Viruses are used for the for the production of vaccines. Live and weakend viruses of polio, chicken
pox and measles are used for vaccine development which replicate inside the body but can not
cause the disease, dead viruses are also used. When vaccines is administered to the individual, it
induce the immune system for the diagnosis of virus and mounting an immunological response
against it. The body memorized the organisms and kill it in future infection thus eliminating the
diseases.(15)

 Viruses in Nanotechnology:
Nanotechnology are used in genetic engineering. Nanotechnology has a variety of applications in
biology and medicine. Viruses are used as vector to carries the genetically modified sequences to
host cells.(14)

Conclusion:

Due to different beneficial roles of viruses in the earth, it is conclude that life on earth without
virues would’ve not been possible. If viruses do not exist ecosystem of earth will badly disturb due
to which all other organism are also affect and they do not survive. All organisms in earth live in
chain, they do not exist without each other. Even if single organism is fade from this universe
whole world will be disturb, and their survival chances will be very low.

The number of viruses that infect humans is very small as compared to the number of viruses that
exist on earth. The majority of the viruses have not been studied properly. They are alot of
beneficial viruses which are used in different fields to gain benefits. Some human-infecting viruses
can cause serious and frequently deadly illnesses, others can be controlled to promote human
health. These viruses have the potential to cure cancer, repair genetic defects, and protect people
from dangerous viral infections. (16)

As we understand more about the roles of viruses in the human virome, more therapeutic options
might be available. We may discover new types of viruses that have an influence on human health
as well as new strategies to employ viruses to regulate our micro biome and protect us from
disease as we dig deeper. We may be able to help ourselves become stronger super organisms if
we can figure out how to manage the bad viruses and exploit the good ones. (17)
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