Scientists Discover 100,000 New RNA Viruses

Recently, with the Corona virus, we have started to talk about diseases and viruses much more in our daily lives. We should say with fear that we may hear more virus names in the coming days. Scientists have detected 100,000 new RNA viruses in their research. RNA virus, as the name suggests, is the name given to viruses that contain RNA in their genetics. The RNA virus we hear the most today is; SARS-CoV-2, which caused us to experience the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is not very heartwarming to learn that there are new viruses when we are trying to get over COVID-19 or will we get over it. Finally, you can find the statement of Health Minister Fahrettin Koca about the Corona virus, which may enlighten you a little, here. Of course, aside from COVID-19, which has been in our lives since 2019, we need to understand a little bit what these newly discovered viruses are.

Researchers have developed a supercomputer with the equivalent of 22,500 processors

Scientists state that although they have just discovered these viruses, they are always in our lives, but we have just discovered them. These viruses may be affecting not only humans but also farm animals and other endangered animals. Knowing what the virus is and discovering it makes it easier to identify its effects faster and find a solution.

Dr Artem Babaian announced that Amazon has collaborated with Web Services, which provides cloud computing platforms. Thanks to this collaboration, Babaian created a supercomputer with the equivalent of 22,500 processors at the University of British Columbia. To research Serratus Project was named.

Number of known RNA Viruses increased 10 times with new discovery

The supercomputer analyzed 20 million gigabytes of gene sequence data from 5.7 million biological samples around the world and was able to detect genes indicating the presence of the RNA virus. Samples collected over 13 years contained many samples such as animal dung and ice cores. With this new discovery made with the help of computers, the number of known RNA viruses increased 10 times and 100 thousand new RNA viruses were discovered. Viruses were detected in samples from the purple and orange marked areas you saw above.

Dr. Babaian summarized the contribution of their research to medical science: “For example, if someone is admitted to a hospital in the USA with a viral infection of unknown origin, you can search the database in about two minutes. You can finally associate this virus with a sample detected in Africa in 2012, for example.”