Megavirus Discovered Off The Coast Of Chile

Posted by: Jason Taylor on October 14, 2011 at 3:21PM
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MegaVirus Discovered Off The Coast Of Chile

It's called Megavirus chilensis. Its name comes from its (relatively) enormous size and the fact that it was discovered off the coast of Chile. M. chilensis is 15% bigger than the previous record-holder, Mimivirus, and is far more complex. It contains 1,259,000 base pairs that control the production of 1,120 distinct proteins.

Viruses Are Protein Packets Delivering Foreign DNA To A Host

Viruses are little protein packets - that's all they really are, when you get down to a few 100x magnification. As you can see in the image below, they are essentially DNA (or RNA) wrapped in proteins that ensure their delivery into a host.


Most are infinitesimally tiny, all are microscopic, but French scientists from the National Center of Scientific Research have taken a big step forward in understanding viruses. Actually, a huge step in discovering Megavirus chilensis.
Megavirus, along with Mimivirus, may constitute a new taxonomic family of viruses that we previously could not have related. They share around 594 genes and are both distinct in size and complexity from other viruses. Megavirus does not affect humans as far as research can tell.


We are all familiar with viruses - you sniff one up your nose or absorb it through your skin and you get sick. Not all viruses make us ill, mind you, but some of the most infamous epidemics are caused by these little nasties. Take for example the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. So far in the US alone over a million people have fallen to the debilitating effect of HIV. Another devastating virus, Ebola has killed 1,200 people since its discovery in 1976. That may seem a small number but it reflects a whopping 70% mortality rate.

Megavirus chilensis is the first virus ever discovered whose size tops that of Mimivirus. Future research must be done to understand the impact this discovery will have on virology and microbiotics.