Everything in the world is mutually reinforcing, and no creature is absolutely invincible, even the human beings who rule the earth. But such a powerful human being was defeated by a virus that cannot be seen with the naked eye, causing hundreds of millions of deaths. So, does the terrifying virus have any natural enemies?

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Creatures that can hardly be called “organisms”

If it is said that breathing, eating, excretion, and reproduction are the basic characteristics of “organism”, then a virus cannot be called a living being, because it does not need all of the above.

However, the virus cannot be called a “dead thing”. It’s essentially a clump of chemicals, genetic material, plus a protein shell, and that’s all there is to it; they don’t have a complete metabolic system, no energy source, and no basic material supply, everything comes from it Host. Although the structure is simple, the virus can replicate quickly. When it finds a host, it injects its own genetic material into the host’s nucleus. The ultimate goal is to keep replicating and spreading.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Most of the organisms on the earth are in the food chain where they are located, and energy is passed from low to high along the food chain. All energy sources are essentially solar energy.

Plants photosynthesize by absorbing carbon dioxide and sunlight to produce oxygen and energy for their own growth and reproduction; herbivores, as primary consumers in the food chain, feed on plants to maintain their own survival activities;

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Large wild animals such as tigers, lions, jaguars, etc., are at the top of the food chain. exist

In such a biological chain, viruses neither produce energy nor provide energy for other organisms, watching animals and plants swallow each other, but do not have to worry about themselves becoming food. Does the virus really have no natural enemies?

Viruses that live in symbiosis with the host
Viruses are such a unique “creature”, but they frighten humans at the top of the food chain and cause hundreds of millions of deaths, such as Ebola, which has a mortality rate of 88%, and Spain, which directly killed about 100 million people. Influenza, smallpox that killed 500 million people, including Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, and the new coronavirus that is now a global pandemic.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Medics dispose of the dead body of an Ebola patient

According to the latest data released by the World Health Organization on March 31, the cumulative number of confirmed covid cases in the world has reached 490 million, and the number of deaths has reached 6.14 million. One out of every 17 people is diagnosed! In addition to directly causing human infection and death, even the confirmed patients who have recovered from the virus are still unable to get rid of the effects of sequelae in the short term; in addition, the epidemic has also caused incalculable economic losses.

The most “annoying” part of the virus is the symbiosis with the host. If it is too powerful and even “kills” the host, then it will not be able to continue to spread because of the massive killing of the host, and will soon be eliminated by natural selection, like SARS of the year; but if the virus is not destructive to the host High and low toxicity, it is possible to coexist with the host for a long time, like the herpes simplex virus that causes oral herpes simplex. In the future, the new coronavirus may also become similar to the flu, with a large base of infections, but less and less toxicity, and eventually coexist with humans for a long time.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Humans are helpless against viruses?
Humans can use antibiotics to deal with bacteria, but for viruses, they can only rely on their own immune system.

Once the virus invades the human body, then it can only rely on the human body itself to defeat the virus. From this point of view, are humans completely “helpless” against the virus? Will the case of human elimination of smallpox virus inspire us?

The smallpox virus has plagued mankind for thousands of years and claimed countless lives. According to historical records, as early as 500 years ago in the Ming Dynasty in China, people used the method of vaccination to inoculate the smallpox virus with strong pathogenic activity into the human body, so that it could go through a complete course of smallpox disease to prevent the smallpox virus. However, this method is quite dangerous, serious and even fatal, so the promotion is greatly limited.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
But human beings did not give up. Finally, more than 200 years ago, it was found that the vaccinia virus on cows could prevent smallpox, and it was extremely safe. Subsequently, the use of vaccination was popularized worldwide. Until 1980, the World Health Organization announced that smallpox had been eradicated worldwide.

Looking back at the process of eradicating smallpox, one virus is used to prevent another virus, that is, the natural enemy of some viruses is its “similar”, that is, another virus. If it is used on the corona virus, that means we must find a virus that meets both conditions to eliminate covid-19. First, this virus can completely suppress the new coronavirus; second, the human immune system can completely suppress this virus.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
For humans, the natural enemy of viruses is our own immune system.

The covid vaccine that is widely publicized and injected now has a similar effect. It does not eliminate the corona virus, but activates the immune system in the body through the vaccine, uses its own immune cells to attack the virus, inhibits its replication, and waits for the body A strong immune system defeats the virus, thereby eliminating the virus. This is why people with poor immune systems, such as the elderly, young children, or chronically ill, HIV-infected people, are more difficult to recover and have a higher mortality rate when infected with the virus.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Are the natural enemies of the virus everywhere?
Although the virus has super replication ability, it also has many “fatal weaknesses”.

1. High temperature

When most viruses encounter high temperature, their proteins will be denatured and directly “killed”. Although there will be exceptions, in the billions of years of the earth’s history, many viruses have “evolved” stable and stable protein shells, making their “shells” more “strong” and enhanced high temperature resistance, such as Hepatitis B virus needs 10 minutes at 130°C and above to be completely killed; however, most viruses are still not resistant to high temperature, and some will “die” as long as they are exposed to sunlight for a long time in summer.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?

2. Acid environment or alkaline environment

Some viruses are resistant to alkalis, but are afraid of acids, and will be eliminated as soon as they encounter an alkaline environment, such as HIV; at the same time, some viruses are resistant to acid but not alkalis; therefore, according to different virus characteristics, chemical disinfection can be used according to the item. agent for disinfection.

3. UV rays

Do you still remember the news that when there were not enough masks at the beginning of the epidemic, many experts suggested that the masks can be reused after disinfection with ultraviolet lamps? That is to use the principle that viruses are afraid of ultraviolet rays. In the “Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for Novel Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia (Trial Fifth Edition)”, it is clearly mentioned that ultraviolet rays play an effective role in killing the new coronavirus.

All things on earth are mutually reinforcing, why haven’t you heard of the natural enemy of viruses? What is the virus afraid of?
Virus-eating protists
For a long time, people thought that viruses can only invade the host, either to kill them or to coexist with the host, but in 2020, the single-cell genomes of Bigelow and the Science Laboratory in the United States found that some marine protists feed on viruses. Yes, after the virus is eaten as food, the organic matter in its “body” spreads up the food chain and becomes an important part of the food chain to transport nutrients. In the future, if the scientific community or the medical community continues to study in this direction, it is possible to find an effective way to deal with viruses just like antibiotics deal with bacteria!

All things interact with each other, just as a great philosopher said: “Everything in the world has either reached equilibrium, or is on the road toward equilibrium”, and the struggle between humans and viruses is the same. Many countries and regions are still “besieged” due to the corona virus. How humans can peacefully coexist with other creatures in nature will be a topic that will not stop for a long time in the future.