• Question: Are infections and viruses in our ecosystem like we are?

    Asked by anon-251613 on 24 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Philip Denniff

      Philip Denniff answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Yes there are infections and viruses in our ecosystem. There are millions upon millions of different types of bacteria and viruses. However as far as humans are concerned most are benign and harmless. Some are useful such as the bacteria used in making yoghurt. Just a few are harmful to humans and cause diseases. Some cause diseases in plants and animal but not humans (yes plants get sick to) and there are even viruses that make bacteria sick. Our bodies are covered in bacteria; since most of them are harmless it leaves little room for bad ones to find anywhere to live. Inside each of our cells is another structure called mitochondria that makes all the energy we use. These mitochondria looks very much like bacteria and many scientist believe that during evolution our cells swallowed up a bacteria so thet we could use the energy they produced. So yes bacteria and viruses are all around us.

    • Photo: Martin Lindley

      Martin Lindley answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      some would say yes they are part of the big biological ecosystem BUT if you see Virus as a non-living thing then you could discount them.

      if all really depends upon how you define the ecosystem and how you define a virus once you have the definitions nailed then you can see if they fit

      so a good question that looks to the heart of science ….it is not just about remembering facts …its about thinking about things in detail

    • Photo: Katrina Wesencraft

      Katrina Wesencraft answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      They sure are – viruses and bacteria can be found in almost every ecosystem on Earth!

    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 24 Apr 2020: last edited 24 Apr 2020 12:28 pm


      I think from a bigger picture sort of view, infections are the “checks” on population growth. An simple example: if we have a closed field where we put some rabbits there so they can’t escape, they will multiply uncontrolled until they eat all the food available and exhaust all the things they can use to live etc. Then there will be too many rabbits. So what happens then? If any of the rabbits are to survive unforts some of them will have to die (sorry bunnies!), if they can’t move elsewhere, cos they will have nothing to eat.

      Infectious diseases often happen when there is a big increase in population density – this happened in the bubonic plague and cholera outbreaks when people were living in unhygienic conditions very closely together in make-shift lodgings. Things didn’t improve until either the infections have killed so many people that the population density decreased, or public health hygiene got much better.

      I also think it is sort of good to know, that we humans that have done so many amazing things, are still an animal species and we are not immortal.

    • Photo: Anabel Martinez Lyons

      Anabel Martinez Lyons answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Hi Abi – yes, viruses are an extremely important part of the biological world. Viruses, bacteria and fungi all have the ability to infect human cells, and we call these invaders pathogens. Some viral pathogens that infect human cells can cause serious infections and medical conditions, like the lung problems in COVID19. However, most viruses that exist and that we know about only infect bacteria, and are certainly important parts of most ecosystems, too. Much of our knowledge about the roles of viruses in natural environments comes from studies of marine microbial communities, where viruses are important in nutrient recycling by killing large numbers of bacteria. They are an important part of many ecosystems and can be beneficial as well as disease-causing.

    • Photo: Donna MacCallum

      Donna MacCallum answered on 26 Apr 2020:


      Absolutely! we are now starting to using bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and where do you think that they find them? Best place to look is sewage treatment plants!!! So definitely in the environment.

      There are also viruses that specifically infect plants, some that specifically infect animals or fish or birds and so on…

Comments