![]() ![]() Many theories of viral origin and evolution are debated and, even though the fossil record of viruses is basically non-existent in the traditional sense, modern phylogenetic sequencing and electron microscopy have revealed astonishing secrets of viral diversity regarding genome, shape, and size and elucidated many sophisticated mechanisms behind their ability to thrive and replicate as obligate parasites, enslaving their host’s replication machinery for their own purposes. At least some RNA viruses appear to have evolved from self-replicating molecules in the so-called RNA-world that researchers believe to have existed before DNA evolved billions of years ago. Viruses are the most understudied microbial agents on our planet their polyphyletic origin is still shrouded in mysteries.
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