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But there is a difference between e.g. crystals and viruses. Both "want" to exist under some conditions. Crystals will even "evolve" to a small extent that more
by kortex 5y ago
But there is a difference between e.g. crystals and viruses. Both "want" to exist under some conditions. Crystals will even "evolve" to a small extent that more stable/lower-solubility polymorphs will dominate, and there have been cases of polymorph "infection" (ritonivir) between production facilities. Prions are like crystals in this aspect.
The difference is that viruses have many more tools available in order to evolve and adapt. Prions, like crystal polymorphs, merely have the configuration space of the molecule. Viruses have the configuration space of dozens of proteins, and complexity can increase, so in theory there is no upper bound.
So I guess yes, they are all replicators that differ in extent by the amount of phase space available to their lifecycle. But the complexity jump between prions and viruses is huge, and prions are inherently bounded.
https://www.pnas.org/content/100/5/2180 https://www.pnas.org/content/100/5/2180.
- arghwhat 5y agoComparing a crystal to a prion or virus is a fun exercise, especially as they all appear in the body and causes health issues. Kidney stones, sugar crystalization around nerves, etc. One main "behavior" difference between crystals, prions and viruses is that a crystal only forms by recruiting its equals when in high concentration - growth, but no replication. Most virus is way more complicated than prions as you say, but a blue whale is also more complicated than a single-celled myxozoa and yet they are both animals. I do not think a comparison of complexity is meaningful in this debate. One should also consider that there are countless proteins to misfold in any number of ways, so the prion space is not necessarily that limited. Virus do have the upper hand by using our well-oiled evolutionary machinery though.