Brazil found mysterious virus with high death rate and unrecognized gene
Recently, scientists discovered a new mysterious virus in Brazil, Russian RT reported. 90% of the genes of this virus have never been described in public scientific databases and literature before and cannot be identified.
It is reported that the virus was found in Lake pampulha in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and named after the God of water in Brazilian mythology and Folklore: yaravirus brasiliensis.
In recent years, virologists and other researchers have found a variety of new viruses that challenge traditional thinking, including the 'giant virus' named after its huge protein shell rather than being fatal to humans. Different from human understanding of normal viruses, giant viruses have a much more complex genome than scientists can predict, and can repair and replicate their own DNA.
The researchers said that the newly discovered 'Yarra virus' is composed of 80 nm particles and has a unique genome. Of the 8500 known viral metagenomes, only 6 are associated with Yarra virus, and 90% of the genes are unrecognized, so they are considered to be orphan genes (ORFans).
Worryingly, the researchers concluded that the number of unknown proteins of Yarra virus may open the door to another unknown virus world.