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A virus that co-evolved along with us, specifically being able to infect complex cellular life in the way it has evolved on earth. Anything from another planet

A virus that co-evolved along with us, specifically being able to infect complex cellular life in the way it has evolved on earth. Anything from another planet wouldn’t have developed in a way that lets it get past our immune system not because or complexity, but because of lacking the shared evolutionary history. Something that represented a danger to us from another planet would have to be an issue in how simplistic it was...like mad cow disease style prions, or a parasite that happens to attack us in a novel way. Something virus like just wouldn’t be an issue.

soperj 6y ago
>Anything from another planet wouldn’t have developed in a way that lets it get past our immune system not because or complexity, but because of lacking the shared evolutionary history. Based on? Rabbits didn't co-evolve with australia's deadly fauna, and yet...
- jamiek88 6y ago
  They did if you go back far enough. We are talking compatibility on a protein level.
- JimTheMan 6y ago
  The rabbit example is a matter of ecology. A viral infection is a matter of immunology. They are not analogous and depend on completely different factors.
  - neuronic 6y ago
    If you have ever done any work or reading on immunology then you wouldn't think it to be far fetched to claim that immunology IS in fact ecology.
    - anticensor 6y ago
      Indeed, microecology is a thing.
jula432vdf 6y ago
if an alien life-form is DNA based, maybe other similarities are shared with Earth based-lifeforms, even if it doesn't share an evolutionary past with it.
ako 6y ago
Well, this also works from the opposite perspective: we have evolved to combat earth virusses, but haven't evolved to combat anything from another planet. Lacking the shared evolutionary history may leave us more vulnerable.
- adrianN 6y ago
  An alien virus would have to be very lucky indeed to have the necessary machinery to dock to our cell's and inject itself into the cells replication mechanism. Viruses are often not even able to bridge the gap between relatively closely related species. A alien virus being able to infect Earth life seems vastly less likely than a virus that infects sea sponges being able to infect humans and nobody really worries about that.
  - k_ 6y ago
    It wouldn't have to be some form of virus to be deadly though, right? Something like prions or unlike anything we know could be equally (or more) deadly to us or even all life on earth. Our imagination is quite limited in this domain and well let's hope it stays this way.. (not that I find any such scenario to be even remotely likely) Edit: well, that's basically what's being said in a parent comment
    - adrianN 6y ago
      Yes, alien bacteria have a much better chance at surviving.

soperj 6y ago

>Anything from another planet wouldn’t have developed in a way that lets it get past our immune system not because or complexity, but because of lacking the shared evolutionary history. Based on? Rabbits didn't co-evolve with australia's deadly fauna, and yet...

jamiek88 6y ago
They did if you go back far enough. We are talking compatibility on a protein level.
JimTheMan 6y ago
The rabbit example is a matter of ecology. A viral infection is a matter of immunology. They are not analogous and depend on completely different factors.
- neuronic 6y ago
  If you have ever done any work or reading on immunology then you wouldn't think it to be far fetched to claim that immunology IS in fact ecology.
  - anticensor 6y ago
    Indeed, microecology is a thing.

jula432vdf 6y ago

if an alien life-form is DNA based, maybe other similarities are shared with Earth based-lifeforms, even if it doesn't share an evolutionary past with it.

ako 6y ago

Well, this also works from the opposite perspective: we have evolved to combat earth virusses, but haven't evolved to combat anything from another planet. Lacking the shared evolutionary history may leave us more vulnerable.

adrianN 6y ago
An alien virus would have to be very lucky indeed to have the necessary machinery to dock to our cell's and inject itself into the cells replication mechanism. Viruses are often not even able to bridge the gap between relatively closely related species. A alien virus being able to infect Earth life seems vastly less likely than a virus that infects sea sponges being able to infect humans and nobody really worries about that.
- k_ 6y ago
  It wouldn't have to be some form of virus to be deadly though, right? Something like prions or unlike anything we know could be equally (or more) deadly to us or even all life on earth. Our imagination is quite limited in this domain and well let's hope it stays this way.. (not that I find any such scenario to be even remotely likely) Edit: well, that's basically what's being said in a parent comment
  - adrianN 6y ago
    Yes, alien bacteria have a much better chance at surviving.