Knowledge of the origin and evolution of viruses could provide a better …

• Summary
• The origin and evolution of viruses
• Viruses as evolutionary accelerators
• Viruses as natural biological weapon
• Conclusion
• References

Biology Articles » Evolutionary Biology » Origin and evolution of viruses: EscapedDNA/RNA sequences as evolutionaryaccelerators and natural biological weapons » Conclusion

Conclusion

- Origin and evolution of viruses: EscapedDNA/RNA sequences as evolutionaryaccelerators and natural biological weapons

The opinion that viruses simply cause infectious diseases is over-simplified and archaic. Their role in nature and their influence on the evolution of other living things is probably of greater and, even, crucial importance. The ability of a genome to emit de novo created viruses and the evident evolutionary conservation of this property strongly suggests that emitted DNA/RNA sequences could be important in the evolution of life. Practically, this means that viruses could be important sources of positive selection pressure on certain species, thus opening up the possibilities of: (i) horizontal dissemination of genes; (ii) rapid and large-scale evolutionary changes by way of unstable genomes; (iii) a role as biological weapons directed against concurrent and/or predator species.