PDA log · 213 words
Viruses are strands of genetic material (DNA or RNA) that hijack living cells to produce copies of themselves. Viruses are not bacteria, which are living cells.
1. Obligate parasites Viruses cannot replicate without a host cell. When traveling between cells, viruses form a protein shell called a virion, which can survive for hours or days.
2. Common, but specialized Viruses are the most abundant biological entity on Earth. Other worlds with genetic life also exhibit viruses. Unlike bacteria, viruses *cannot* cross between alien biologies. They must hijack living cells, a process which requires co-evolution—like a key and a lock, or a software virus targeting a particular operating system vulnerability.
3. Important to oceans Prior to the Holocene Collapse, viruses were essential to the function of Earths oceans. More than ten million viruses lived in each droplet of seawater, infecting and killing more than twenty percent of all seaborne microorganisms each *day*. This cycle returned nutrients to the ocean for growth.
4. High viral load Sea viruses on this world are large and numerous. They are characterized by complex genomes and retroviral activity — the ability to insert their genes into a host's genome. Without further observation it is impossible to know if this is an anomaly or within normal range.
Generating designation: PROTEAVIRUS.
