4 ms·

If I am understanding correctly, a virus that targeted any receptors within the Anglerfish would be fatal 100% of the time?

tchaffee 6y ago
The article seemed to imply that's one thing that deserves more research.
est31 6y ago
They still have an innate immune system, and the article mentions researchers suspecting that the innate immune system is stronger in anglerfish.
- lend000 6y ago
  Can an innate immune system do anything about a virus that has already entered the organism? Or perhaps they just have such a strong outer layer and are so dispersed that viruses rarely evolve to target them, and quickly die out if they do.
  - HarryHirsch 6y ago
    Yes. There are cellular receptors that recognize viral features (dsRNA &c). The innate immune system is the first line of defense in vertebrates and the only thing that nonvertebrates have, and it's pretty efficient.
  - est31 6y ago
    There has been an evolutionary arms race between viruses and potential host cells where host cells constantly figure out new defenses and viruses figure out ways to counter them. The adaptive immune system is a very sophisticated defense mechanism, but not the only one available. E.g. check out Toll like receptors [1], PKR [2], APOBEC3, etc. Viruses of course have to counter these defenses somehow, but it still slows them down, and if only because they require additional RNA/DNA to encode it which can mutate and render subsequent viruses inactive. There is a great lecture on the topic of intrinsic and innate defenses against viruses by Vincent Racianello [3]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll-like_receptor#Summary_of_known_mammalian_TLRs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll-like_receptor#Summary_of_... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_kinase_R https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_kinase_R [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMNbrTlV4_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMNbrTlV4_w
Diggsey 6y ago
It may be that viruses are simply less of a concern: perhaps at that depth viruses have difficulty surviving outside of a host and so can't spread very easily? It could even be that they lost their immune systems first due to a lack of genetic pressure to keep them, and this allowed their "fusing" behaviour to evolve.

tchaffee 6y ago

The article seemed to imply that's one thing that deserves more research.

est31 6y ago

They still have an innate immune system, and the article mentions researchers suspecting that the innate immune system is stronger in anglerfish.

lend000 6y ago
Can an innate immune system do anything about a virus that has already entered the organism? Or perhaps they just have such a strong outer layer and are so dispersed that viruses rarely evolve to target them, and quickly die out if they do.
- HarryHirsch 6y ago
  Yes. There are cellular receptors that recognize viral features (dsRNA &c). The innate immune system is the first line of defense in vertebrates and the only thing that nonvertebrates have, and it's pretty efficient.
- est31 6y ago
  There has been an evolutionary arms race between viruses and potential host cells where host cells constantly figure out new defenses and viruses figure out ways to counter them. The adaptive immune system is a very sophisticated defense mechanism, but not the only one available. E.g. check out Toll like receptors [1], PKR [2], APOBEC3, etc. Viruses of course have to counter these defenses somehow, but it still slows them down, and if only because they require additional RNA/DNA to encode it which can mutate and render subsequent viruses inactive. There is a great lecture on the topic of intrinsic and innate defenses against viruses by Vincent Racianello [3]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll-like_receptor#Summary_of_known_mammalian_TLRs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll-like_receptor#Summary_of_... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_kinase_R https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_kinase_R [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMNbrTlV4_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMNbrTlV4_w

Diggsey 6y ago

It may be that viruses are simply less of a concern: perhaps at that depth viruses have difficulty surviving outside of a host and so can't spread very easily? It could even be that they lost their immune systems first due to a lack of genetic pressure to keep them, and this allowed their "fusing" behaviour to evolve.