Entering the Platinum Age of Virus Discovery
By: Nicole Fong
December 6, 2023
My AP BIO class had the amazing opportunity to virtually meet and speak with Artem Babaian and Purav Gupta! Babaian, the laboratory leader for RNA-Based Lifeforms, taught us about his team’s discoveries with Earth’s RNA viruses and Coronavirus with state-of-the-art computational approaches. Gupta spoke about how the team uncovered an RNA virus concealed in a parasite.
The presentation was recorded on the YouTube channel, “Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants.” Click the video below to watch!
Artem Babaian explained that SARS-CoV-2 was predicted to have infected 80+ mammal species, but the infection is now reported in over 24 mammals.
He wanted to answer the question: Are there missing Coronaviruses?
Babaian and his team created a cloud computing architecture called Serratus that efficiently analyzes an enormous volume of data. Serratus can search around 1 million datasets a day! Using public databases to collect data and Serratus to analyze the data, the team found more than 130,000 novel RNA viruses in 11 days!
Using tests from a 2017 study, Gupta and his team analyzed and found RUB (pronounced as “Ruby”), a T.gondii strain present in a fair amount of brain tissue. In a 2013 study by Melo, the COUGAR strain was also found in T.gondii. The team analyzed the data from Melo and deduced that an RNA virus was present in two hypervirulent strains.
Why aren’t the other T.gondii strains present?
Overall, I was impressed by the team’s level of dedication to finding and analyzing an immense amount of research to create new discoveries. I learned how we have barely scratched the surface of finding and understanding all of Earth’s viruses. However, as technology and science progress, we will soon learn more about ourselves and our history.
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Here’s a curious question: If segmented coronaviruses are found in aquatic life, could the segments also be found in humans? How many viruses have become a part of our DNA?
The presentation was recorded on the YouTube channel, “Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants.” Click the video below to watch!
Are there missing Coronaviruses?
Artem Babaian explained that SARS-CoV-2 was predicted to have infected 80+ mammal species, but the infection is now reported in over 24 mammals.
He wanted to answer the question: Are there missing Coronaviruses?
Babaian and his team created a cloud computing architecture called Serratus that efficiently analyzes an enormous volume of data. Serratus can search around 1 million datasets a day! Using public databases to collect data and Serratus to analyze the data, the team found more than 130,000 novel RNA viruses in 11 days!
I found it fascinating how technology and science can work together to discover more about life on Earth. All the biologists in the world took over 130 years to discover the first 15,000 RNA viruses, but Babaian and his team were able to find more in a much shorter time.
The team also uncovered segmented coronaviruses, in which the viral genome is represented on two molecules, in aquatic life. This disproved the textbook definition that all Coronaviruses have one molecule. The finding answered his original question!
The team also uncovered segmented coronaviruses, in which the viral genome is represented on two molecules, in aquatic life. This disproved the textbook definition that all Coronaviruses have one molecule. The finding answered his original question!
Babaian and his team are able to use their laboratory to dive further by trying to identify the newly found RNA viruses or figuring out which virus causes cancer or Alzheimer’s.
A Parasite Odyssey: The Trojan Horse
Purav Gupta spoke about Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite that infects all warm-blooded animals and causes toxoplasmosis. The team investigated T.gondii to determine if a virus could infect the brain and lead to brain inflammation and Alzheimer's. Finding a virus that caused Alzheimer's would help create a vaccine to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's in the future.
The team’s hypothesis: An RNA virus in the brain causes Alzheimer's.
The team’s hypothesis: An RNA virus in the brain causes Alzheimer's.
Using tests from a 2017 study, Gupta and his team analyzed and found RUB (pronounced as “Ruby”), a T.gondii strain present in a fair amount of brain tissue. In a 2013 study by Melo, the COUGAR strain was also found in T.gondii. The team analyzed the data from Melo and deduced that an RNA virus was present in two hypervirulent strains.
Why aren’t the other T.gondii strains present?The atypical strains were capable of inducing high levels of expression, but the most potent were RUB and COUGAR.
Gupta and his team concluded that: There was an RNA virus concealed in a parasite, similar to a Trojan horse.
Toxoplasma Gondii strains that have the virus lead to a huge immune response in the brain.
Toxoplasma Gondii strains that have the virus lead to a huge immune response in the brain.
Overall, I was impressed by the team’s level of dedication to finding and analyzing an immense amount of research to create new discoveries. I learned how we have barely scratched the surface of finding and understanding all of Earth’s viruses. However, as technology and science progress, we will soon learn more about ourselves and our history.
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Here’s a curious question: If segmented coronaviruses are found in aquatic life, could the segments also be found in humans? How many viruses have become a part of our DNA?
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