Viruses in perspective 4: Exotic giant viruses and viruses in our genome
The whole world has been affected by the biggest and most severe virus pandemic in the last 100 years. We're still at the beginning of the pandemic, so we don't know what will happen. It has generated a great deal of interest in understanding viruses better, and there is a lot to be told, including some surprising things such as the fact that we have large amounts of viruses built into our genome and viruses are necessary for human fetal formation. There are viruses that attack viruses. Some viruses may even be beneficial to our immune system, others will kill you in no time.
Professor Dr. Med. Anders Fomsgaard takes stock of what we know and do not know about viruses in a series of interviews (in Danish) with science journalist Jens Degett from Science Stories. The series consists of five programs, four of which were recorded on March 11 and March 13 2020. The last program was recorded on April 15, 2020.
This program is about new giant giant viruses, like the Pithovirus that was found frozen in Siberia's permafrost for 30,000 years and could still infect an amoeba, viruses that infect other viruses and more. In reality, we know so little about viruses, and scientists are repeatedly surprised.
Anders Fomsgaard has been head of the Virus Research & Development Laboratory at the Danish Serum Institute since 1992. He is also an adjunct professor at SDU, and has worked with virus research in Denmark, Germany and the USA. Anders Fomsgaard's recent book is titled: ”Det er bare en virus”, published by Gyldendals Forlag.
The other podcasts in the series are:
- Viruses in perspective 1: Influenza, corona, polio and smallpox
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Viruses in perspective 2: HIV, AIDS and retroviruses
- Viruses in perspective 3: Measles, human papillomavirus (HPV), and herpes
- Viruses in perspective 5: Tests and vaccines against COVID-19
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Read the press release about the 30,000 year old giant virus from Siberia.