CGI Virology

The purpose of this article is to explain in lay language exactly what modern virologists are doing when claiming they have discovered new pathogenic viruses. The methods they now use are part of a rapidly evolving field of scientific research called virus genome sequencing.

All living things have a genome, which is an organism’s genetic blueprint. It’s what makes us humans what we are and everything else what it is. Therefore, whole genome sequencing (WGS) isn’t limited to virology. As explained here and here, this technology is also used for disease prevention, as in seeing if you have genetic mutations that can impact the health of your future children; predicting what diseases a person may acquire in old age; preventing and treating cancer more effectively; determining in advance the side effects of medications on a particular person, etc. But the focus of this article is the genome sequencing of viruses. So, let’s understand what it means.

As explained here, viral genomes, which can either be DNA or RNA, are very small compared to the genomes of larger, more complex living organisms. This makes sequencing them a faster and simpler task. For example, our human genome is composed of 3 billion DNA nucleotides, or letters. But the RNA genome of a coronavirus is supposedly only about 30,000 nucleotides; the RNA genome of an influenza/flu virus is supposed to be 13,500 nucleotides; and the DNA genome of the redondovirus is supposed to be a mere 3,000 nucleotides.

As explained in this 2017 article in the peer review journal Nature, three major methods are used for viral genome sequencing: “metagenomic sequencing, PCR amplicon sequencing, and target enrichment sequencing.”

Regardless of the methods used, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) explained that what virologists are doing is using computers to sequence RNA and DNA found in cell cultures into what they claim is a whole viral genome. They then further claim that it proves a particular virus exists or that a new virus has been discovered. But this is done without isolating actual virus particles, which, as reported by the CDC, have always “been critical in the detection of previously unrecognized viruses” and warned that these “classical techniques” should not be abandoned. Instead, modern virologists will access databases that contain millions of artificially sequenced viral genomes and compare them. If they don’t exactly match, they just claim it’s a new variant.

Read more: CGI Virology