• Question: How many estimated virus are in the whole universe

    Asked by puma449mad on 1 Feb 2022.
    • Photo: Samuel Ellis

      Samuel Ellis answered on 1 Feb 2022:

      Viruses are incredibly diverse on Earth, and probably more numerous than any other biological lifeform (if you count viruses as “alive”, which is a whole other debate!). They have probably been around since almost the beginning of life here, and different types have evolved to infect all sorts of cells from those of big mammals like us to the tiniest bacteria.

      We have never proven that life exists anywhere else in the universe, although many people think that the universe is so huge that life must be out there in other places. If so, it would make sense that if alien lifeforms are anything like earth ones, there are possibly matching alien viruses too.. I would love to know!

Comments