What Was The First Virus?

Researched and Written by Leila Battison
Narrated and Edited by David Kelly
Art by Khail Kupsky
Thumbnail Art and Art by Ettore Mazza
If you like our videos, check out Leila's youtube channel:
/ @somethingincredible
Music from Epidemic Sound and Artlist.
References:
www.nature.com/scitable/topic...
www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
www.ft.com/content/8009dad5-9...
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article...
www.ancient.eu/Antonine_Plague/
• The Pandemic That Last...
elifesciences.org/articles/12704
www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...
sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/201...
www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/exter...
Image credits:
Roman relief By Rabax63 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Surgical Roman instruments By wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/... wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/... Collection gallery (2018-04-02): wellcomecollection.org/works/... CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Antonine Plague By wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/... wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/... Collection gallery (2018-04-03): wellcomecollection.org/works/... CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Smallpox Virus De Dr Graham Beards at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Mimivirus By Sarah Duponchel and Matthias G. Fischer - extracted from this Commons file, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Coccoliphore By Robin Mejia. Image courtesy Dr. Alison Taylor. - [1] doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001087, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
coccolithophores virus by By DHRUVA SRINIVAS - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Diversity of coccolithophores By Monteiro, F.M., Bach, L.T., Brownlee, C., Bown, P., Rickaby, R.E., Poulton, A.J., Tyrrell, T., Beaufort, L., Dutkiewicz, S., Gibbs, S. and Gutowska, M.A. - advances.sciencemag.org/conte..., CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Coccolithophore By ja:User:NEON / commons:User:NEON_ja - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Human Genome Project By National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) from Bethesda, MD, USA - Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Eckard Wimmer By SummerWillow - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Pythovirus By Pavel Hrdlička, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Electron Bacteriophages By Dr Graham Beards - en:Image:Phage.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@HistoryoftheEarth]

Hello all! Hope you enjoy it. One clarification - the images shown are of a mixture of different chalk cliffs on the south coast of England, not only those specifically in Dover. Also, fun fact - I myself was suffering from coronavirus whilst finishing this video. Dedication to the topic.

[@sykens587]

great video as always, hope you get over the virus and dont get any after effects!

[@JarodM]

Excellent content, I hope you are feeling better and all is well, cheers~👍

[@kien9006]

Is that a fun fact? Anyways hope you recover.

[@ian_ssali]

Thank you for your dedication and please take very good care you all!

[@mortified776]

Oh trust me that is a trifling offence compared to what I have seen on other channels (e.g. showing stock footage of Meteor crater in Arizona whilst talking about Chixilub.) In awe of your content, as always. Hope you are feeling better!

[@typreegamingtpg2198]

hope this goes viral

[@michaelprobert4014]

Groan ! Kindly leave the stage ....still gets a thumbs up though .

[@kcsniperboy7148]

Did u sell ur soul for my thumbs up?

[@MrChristianDT]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3Kac4OOeqebZ7M

[@nobrakes7247]

Boom! boom!

[@chioptnstdr3448]

U got it man

[@spammerwhammer5526]

OUTSTANDING!! As a long-retired microbiologist I just had to watch this. After what seemed like about 10 - 12 mins the video ended. I then looked at the clock and saw that 25 mins had elapsed. That's how engrossed I was. I majored in bacteriology and immunology rather than virology, which was in its infancy when I trained, so you should take pride in the fact that you made some points that were new to this old wrinkly bugs man! With heartiest congratulations on such a great production.

[@dsm5d723]

Whole new paradigm coming. You did not have a 3D math model to compute biology. Because nobody fixed math for physics. Data science made the 2D binary model the only thing people could think in. Seems people like me do not do well because we will not play well with others. I have seen it hinted when I run my mouth, by bioinformatics programmers, that they know what can be done, but don't want desktop gene drives roaming around. I just model thing to simplex precision. Dimensional Gauge Symmetry is my name for the TOE. 1D(RNA)->2D(DNA)->Protein as the software-hardware, input-process-output simplex architecture. Replace electron transport with beta decay and fix the geometry to line up allele switches. I live in the future. Life, consciousness and time are not comprehended yet. If I can reduce Fire to a quadratic differential equation, and like Boltzmann intuited predict the states of the system across time slices, then what IS fire? Same with everything. Animals seem to understand me best.

[@robertjustin9638]

Then you should know viruses are actually exosomes

[@dsm5d723]

@@robertjustin9638 Again, as I have to do EVERYTHING myself from first principles, DEFINE exosome in a mathematical framework, after having used language to establish limits of analytical continuation. Not something you can do after watching a few nice animations. Basically, the same thing as saying WHAT a virus is. Structure and function, and the geometric relationship. I will get to it eventually. Lots of study to speak and actually mean something. Even Einstein was pretty much full of shit. Priveldged Observer is incoherent mathematically, unless it is a 3D Unitary Operator. Materials matter, and in the GR/SR transform that is Universal. The hardest unpaid job in the world. Some important ones you know of include Jesus, the historical figure, not the magic guy.

[@jrodowens]

@@dsm5d723 Take your meds

[@endubito]

@@dsm5d723 What's the frequency, Kenneth? Are you the Observer?

[@hoi-polloi1863]

One theory I don't hear much about is that viruses may have been caused by microbes being torn apart (by being eaten or some other trauma). Some of the scraps could have been DNA or RNA fragments that got spilled back into the environment, and had enough coherence to reproduce themselves when they bumped into another microbe.

[@PepeCoinMania]

Sorry that shit doesn’t make sense is like a car broken and the engine becomes alive by itself 😂

[@Alice58302]

​@@PepeCoinManiaa car isn't a virus, this theory makes alot of sense, imagine a animal so worse that it shouldn't exist but it still exist an reproduces. Then his generation will be worse of aswell but maybe adapt and survive( perhaps evolve)

[@philliplumpkin6369]

​@@PepeCoinManialol that just goes to show how brain dead you are a car is not a living organism that can evolve it only evolves when a human makes it better and redesign it, a virus or microb is actually living without interference by humans no it must live and survive in its environment overcome adapt but seriously I cannot believe you were dumb enough to compare something that has never lived to something that has lived and been around longer then any car

[@bt4308]

@@PepeCoinMania Lol, better analogy is that organisms have an "instruction manual" that tells them how to function and stay alive. Maybe one time some organism died, dropping its instruction manual right there. The instruction manual possibly became super damaged as it lay there, and eventually another organism stopped by and picked it up. The organism read this manual, but unfortunately it just so happened that the manual gave the organism instructions to just make more copies of the manual until it dies.

[@mikael557]

​@@PepeCoinManiaabsolutely shitty comparison

[@zebdawson3687]

Man, this is I think the third video I’ve watched from this channel, and the absolute insane level of quality in these videos keeps blowing me away. These are actually better than than some of the top documentaries made. The editing, the narration, the in-depth information, the cool images, all while being extremely entertaining? It’s just baffling. Well done! You definitely earned my subscription.

[@kylezo]

damn dude i mean i liked it too but i did not feel that strongly about it

[@zebdawson3687]

@@kylezo pretty sure no one cares what you think. 😂

[@numealinesimpetar1]

Agreed!

[@Draco1928MCVideos]

Damn we’re in an age where we can get more informative and in depth, yet more concise, documentary type videos on KZbin for free than actual documentaries

[@junkequation]

KZbin has been better than TV or any other subscription service for a while now. I remember when first discovering youtube in 2006 or so thinking it'd never be anything but a place to upload pirated content. I couldn't understand why Google bought it back then. Now i get it. I'm dumb and the people at google are a lot smarter than me.

[@christyrowe4497]

KZbin documentaries don't have a wholes series of upper management fretting that it won't get the numbers for the tv channel so they try to dumb it down. I remember the early days of the History Channel when it was much more intellectual. Same with the Discovery Channel.

[@Khorne_of_the_Hill]

There's a very good reason legacy media is terrified of youtubers; they just can't wrap their little heads around why Joe Schmoe's videos about his weird hobby or whatever curbstomps their multimillion dollar TV show in views

[@bazsnell3178]

@@junkequation The expression is ''smarter than I''. Continue your comment with the implicit word ''am''. So what you said was basically , 'smarter than me am' but we all know that you really meant was 'smarter than I am'. Just saying.....

[@boowiebear]

Totally with you. I get 97% my history and science content from KZbin. Used to be cable but they assumed we were idiots and fed us reality TV instead of facts. Not a huge fan of some of KZbin's content policies, but nothing better. We live in a good time.

[@account0199]

My man here putting entire TV CHANNELS to shame!

[@jrobertsbrewer]

Always fantastically narrated and illustrated, but thanks must go to Leila Battison for the research and writing this episode.What an amazing job.

[@michaelwittmann4898]

That's not hard nowadays!

[@larsalfredhenrikstahlin8012]

woman* :-)

[@abelsilva4677]

LOL, and I got this referenced from a Star Wars Combine Discord channel, he he.

[@Cbd_7ohm]

@@michaelwittmann4898 Stole the words right from my brain lol.

[@Litvagopnik]

Dude this was television level production quality. Amazing work, man.

[@aubah]

I have heard so many times that part of our DNA has virus origins. But so far I have not heard anyone else pointing out that among all infected cells, only the sex cells actually pass and preserve these virus DNA sections. It is kind of obvious, but worth mentioning I think. It brings a little more depth and clarity, especially if you are not very knowledgeable to this matter.

[@Azuria969]

sex cells? you mean the spermatozoids and ovules? I mean reproduction is their only purpose...

[@guitarandrums]

Or their precursors germ cells

[@dbsti3006]

All I have on my TV is Netflix and KZbin. This documentary is a fine example of why I'm not paying for cable anymore.

[@bazsnell3178]

Same here. I'm not paying for cable either, neither am I paying for a British TV license at £143 a year.

[@dbsti3006]

@@bazsnell3178 Brits have to pay for a license?

[@bazsnell3178]

@@dbsti3006 Yes we do. It's payable to the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) for the privilege of receiving live television broadcasts from any channel whatsoever. You might know it if you've ever seen shows from BBC America. The fee of £143 in my money is $202 in yours at the current exchange rate. Non-payment can incur a fine of £1000 ($1412). BTW, please forgive me for assuming that you are an American.

[@cloudpoint0]

Who provides your internet (who is your ISP) since you don't have cable?

[@callum7764]

@@cloudpoint0 by cable he means Television (at least in the UK). Internet and TV services are separate services but are provided by the same company (often Sky, BT or Virgin media)

[@spynae]

When I first learned how much of our DNA is made up of inactive viral DNA, and that it this inflation of our genome by "junk" DNA that protects us from errors in gene copying, it definitely made me appreciate the role of viruses in evolution at large.

[@siyacer]

Hm.

[@MountainFisher]

Better take a look at Project ENCODE the encyclopedia of DNA elements and you'll discover that so called "junk DNA" has functions and isn't junk at all. So far they are up to 90% functions discovered. Many diseases lie in that junk if it doesn't function right. I cannot believe many biology professors and teachers are still teaching the Myth of Junk DNA. Project ENCODE consisted of thousands of scientists in hundreds of labs around the world looking at DNA and what it does. Some Oxford evolutionary biologists actually denied that functions mean it isn't junk. It is called letting your metaphysic control the narrative.

[@alexxx4434]

@@MountainFisher Yeah, I doubt any good scientist would seriously call something as of yet unknown function - a junk. It's the same nonsense as saying that humans use only small percentage of their brain. Because natural evolution is quite efficient and organisms are energy economical, and tend not to waste energy on maintaining unnecessary "junk".

[@alexxx4434]

@sprock "Junk" term clearly bears "useless" connotation. Surely there are better terms to pick that covey the "still unresearched" status of something.

[@alexxx4434]

@sprock I'm reasonably sure you don't know any real scientists

[@johnd2159]

Superb. I am in isolation with covid and am spending the time looking for the best stuff on youtube. This is right up there. Such a complex subject explained so very,very well. Thank you to all involved.

[@aaronmarks9366]

Hoping you made a full recovery, friend.

[@joesands8860]

It is amazing the garbage governments got people to do during the "Big Scare" a few years ago.

[@harrietharlow9929]

Just beautiful, especially the photos of coccolithophores--they almost look as if they were crocheted. Thank you for putting these up here, I call KZbin my free college--and yours is my favorite course.

[@edgybitch2177]

Reading up on the relationship viruses have with marine microbial diversity, and how they alter important natural processes has me high key interested in pursuing higher education in marine virology. For example, coccolithophores’ significant contribution to sea spray aerosols, an important component for cloud formation, increases significantly with infection by coccolithoviruses. To imagine something of such a small scale driving a biophysical interaction that bears significance to our coastal weather patterns, is utterly mind blowing.

[@r.v.k.6932]

Wow, so the die offs that created the sediment that eventually became those cliffs might have also significantly affected weather patterns of the epoch!

[@KynanSuttle]

A marine virologist named Curtis Suttle does great work on marine virology and oceanography. An inspiration to me.

[@borttorbbq2556]

Yeah viruses are really cool

[@alayneperrott9693]

Really interesting. Humans may need to use that chemistry to increase the production of DMS and cloudiness, especially over the tropical oceans.

[@kuwaitisnotadeployment1373]

This video is literally taking me hours to watch because its teaching me so much. I've paused to think dozens of times and rewinded it to write down or just hear different parts even more times than that. Great video

[@captainsirjackchucklebutty6147]

David Kelly your narration is an inspiration! Combined with Leila's writing ,your delivery is perfection. A clear and interesting lecture with such appropriate emphasis in every sentence that attention can never wander. Superb . Exceptional . Outstanding. I am lost for words,,,,,,

[@neco777777]

Love the calm pace of your voice over, compared to many other channels that speed through the subject matter. Thank you!

[@_Ocariao]

I'm so happy with the youtube documentaries grown in number and, specially, quality. Art, knowledge, entertainment all in one. My respects!

[@dudepool7530]

I appreciate the props, but I had nothing to do with this video, besides enjoying it as you did. My name totally isn't Arthur lmao.

[@mrsantoro8306]

Calm down

[@paulstewart6293]

The evolution of Utube, increasing complexity and diversity, with the less fit dying off. You could write a book about that. There was a guy, years and years ago wrote a,stiil controversial, book on the subject

[@ginociambotti9256]

The intros to your videos are surprisingly engaging and absolutely clever. I feel both enlightened and lucky to have found this beautiful channel.

[@edwinsours9250]

One of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time. The statements here presented are not overdone; the information is sufficient for the informed layman. Congratulations!

[@mvdeehan]

Very informative and wonderfully produced. David Kelly has a voice that could become as popular as David Attenborough's and the art of Khail Kupsky complements it. Looking forward to more from History of the Earth. Also makes me think visiting Mars maybe a mistake.

[@bhuvaneshs.k638]

I always thought viruses as a link between lifeless organic chemistry and life

[@currysues]

Me too.

[@DrNova-hj6co]

Prions: Take my beer.

[@AverageAlien]

but viruses leach off of life, so....

[@bhuvaneshs.k638]

@@AverageAlien Maybe we donno the complete picture of their behaviour

[@noelvalenzarro]

@@AverageAlien There's plenty of life that leeches off life too. Too many to count.

[@drawythekulisak3251]

I love your work! This channel is filled to the brim with information that just fills that need for documentaries after educational television went sour and that void I had in me since I was a child. Thank you very much!

[@DavidStruveDesigns]

I like the theory that viruses are one of the steps between inanimate chemical compounds and the more complex compounds we classify as life. I can easily imagine two viruses, perhaps one bigger than the other, collided somewhere in some chemical soup and thanks to this chance encounter, instead of one simply doing what it always did and using the other to replicate IT'S RNA strand, the two RNA strands happened to chemically match up and joined together instead of one just editing the other. This new combination meant the resulting future replications could combine and edit chemical compounds in very new and unique ways, far more complex than it had previously been able to.... and this started this new type of virus on the path to becoming the very first forms of life we can think of. Meanwhile, the rest of the viruses around at the time just continued on their current path without combining RNA strands, but eventually started to also bump into more and more of this brand new virus form that had two RNA strands permanently joined together and the two started the dance of virus vs life we know of today.

[@ashitkotian2396]

How do you guys manage to make quality content for free. Keep em coming.

[@powellbenedict3522]

This series has been absolutely captivating. I am a huge fan, and having binge-watched all the episodes, I can't wait for more. I would love to see a video on the Ediacaran Period. I've always been fascinated by that period and a video by you folks on that would not disappoint.

[@adamnixon2886]

Stellar job on this video. It's captivating, how you mix storytelling with rich lessons, and always interesting, attractive and informative illustrations.

[@attunix]

These videos are really professionally done. My one pet peeve is that as far as we know all DNA and RNA on Earth has a right-handed helix (righty-tighty lefty-loosey) and some of the clips in this video have left-handed helixes, like at 19:13 and 21:36. Some biochemists just can't unsee that. 🙂

[@lesussie2237]

Could it be possible that among the soup of life preceding what we consider the earliest life (Bacteria & Archaea), within the community of pseudo-biological processes, the virus evolved to be an independent form of life (with the ability to do most of it's own metabolism). then after more complex celled life emerged, the viruses got outcompeted and had to regress to being a parasite? Could life evolve not from a single individual self-sustaining organism but as a community of very closely interrelated organisms. say, each organism is able to only partially work out some life processes and needed others to support it. is it possible life started out a community of chemical reactions that slowly coalesced into different organisms? This video really got me thinking

[@benthomason3307]

you pretty much just described the organelles within a cell.

[@rickyreaves5794]

Your entire life resembles that of protein/enzyme activity as well as viral activity within a cell, ask your self why that is.. Take it all the way back to the Zygotic phase of your coming to. 23 chromo's come from your father, and 23 from your mother. This creates the Zygote. Let's jump on the interstate for a second. Now, talking about those platonic solids within a mothers womb, hanging out on the uterine wall is this plethora of viruses, also called platonic solids. Yet, those solids consist again, of differnt shapes, icosahedrons, dodeca's, ect ect. Within those capsids lay an RNA strand, which we know DNA/RNA is effectively a book of instructions and the chromosomes are chapters. So, if these viral counterparts, or what I now call Engineers, are merging with your DNA during your singular cell phase, and are indeed, replicating within each cell that you form during mitosis. This capsid is what we call the Phage Lambda. and that portion of the DNA strand reads Left to Right. Bacteria-Phage outnumber bacteria in your body 10 to 1, and bacteria to your cells 10 to 1. I believe there is over 500 documented " Viruses " of the bacteriophage family that's found in quite literally EVERY life form on this planet, and off this planet. The Vectors we call viruses, which we know Vector means Vehicle, so this vehicle docks on an E.Coli cell, which can also be found in your gut. some of the viral capsids structures, consist of earthly metals. So, there indeed is high intelligence behind Us, that's not the HUMAN side of us. 2 turns into 1 if you go the pharos's way. I hope that, that perspective may have given you a different angle of light ;)

[@lesussie2237]

@@rickyreaves5794 you good? btw bacteriophages cant infect eukaryotes so we likely dont have fragments of them in our genome

[@DocBree13]

@@rickyreaves5794 there are way too many questionable claims in that for me to address them all, so I’ll just respond to the most blatant one (IMO). What in the world are you talking about when you speak of a solid on the uterine wall? - * platonic (not plantonic) - not “and so on,” as there are only 5 platonic solids: the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron and dodecahedron - are you saying there’s a mass of viruses attached to each woman’s uterine lining? - are you claiming that viruses are encased with capsids in the shape of the Platonic solids? That’s incorrect. Viral capsids can be icosahedral, but the other 4 platonic shapes have not been described - if the uterine mass consists of viruses in your mind, then that uterus must be made of bacteria, since icosahedral capsids are found only in bacteriophages If I completely misunderstood, please clarify what you meant/disagree with

[@lelsewherelelsewhere9435]

Partially right, partially wrong (based on current understanding). Mitochondria have their own independent DNA to the rest of the cell. They perhaps were their own almost-an-independent-cell line that got enclosed in bigger cells and stayed on just as a component of cells. Thus there were not just simple organelles, but perhaps competing lineages of cell like things that Frankensteined together. Viruses are not really alive in that they don't really perform complex "behaviors". They're more like a computer virus, or an operating system, or software that is stored on special purpose disks. Some types of RNA itself can fold and act as basic protein like devices, but that's not really common. Perhaps some viruses came from extinct almost-cell lineages, perhaps these changes became the default cell behavior, but it doesn't seem like viruses were their own kinda of living thing. The definition of life here is kinda weird though. I mean, crystals self assemble and replicate, but they aren't considered life. Keep that in mind when thinking of this too.

[@eunomiac]

Every one of these videos is fantastic, and there are so many great things about them, but I want to specifically praise the writing --- Leila's prose is nigh poetic, and you have so many great turns-of-phrase without ever going too far and becoming kitschy or overblown. Such a pleasure to listen to.

[@chrislong3938]

This is extremely well done and so fascinating that I'm going to have to watch it again and again! There is so much being described here!!! David Kelly the narrator is fantastic and completely engaging!

[@rodandthiabrown800]

This video is so absolutely amazing and informative! We look forward to viewing the entire group of videos from History of the Earth. THANK YOU!! And we hope that you have completely recovered now from your bout with the virus!

[@Blablablabla1ify]

I cannot overstate enough how much I love this channel. You are all doing a phenomenal and important job. Love it!

[@davidkaplan2745]

Can you imagine my joy, seeing a new "History of the Earth" video drop.

[@bhuvaneshs.k638]

Yes I can ☺️

[@jeremycoley4376]

It dropped? When where which channel

[@ian_ssali]

Same here now!

[@Lutetium176]

Yep, when you like the video before watching so you don't forget it.

[@octoberrust987]

I know the feeling

[@cameronbridges6365]

I haven't even finished watching yet... Subscribed, liked and shared.... Will be watching more. I agree with so many others. Keep up the good work

[@matthill367]

My mind is BLOWN! Literally one of the BEST documentaries I’ve ever seen…

[@pedror598]

This channel is absolutelly amazing! I wish I had the talent and the means to dub it in portuguese, or maybe write subtitles to make it more accessible. The content surely deserves to reach more people!

[@ellenbryn]

This is one of the finest channels on the web. I sometimes get it mixed up with PBS Eons, but your silky-smooth presentation style is even better. I love all your digressions and details. Every single video, there's something which makes me wonder aloud at a recent, significant discovery I had no idea about, like the possible origin of the placenta in this one. But- and this is only the teeniest, tiniest but, because every video you do is fantastic - when this channel first started, promising a history of the Earth, I was expecting we'd be moving forward in Earth time as we did at first, with the formation of the solar system and seas. Like many lifelong learners, I've got a favorite period, the Permian, and I look forward to learning whatever wonderful stories and discoveries you're going to tell me someday about the precious ugly wugly dicynodonts and Earth's real Eden, Gondwanaland, from which I feel we were cast out by the end Permian extinction. Plus I have a feeling you're going to make the Ediacaran and Cambrian Explosion more magical, as far too much of my own knowledge of them comes from their initial discoveries and not what's been found since. TL;DR: I love what you're doing. You've just whetted my appetite so that I'm eager to see what you'll do with the Paleozoic Era, which so often gets short shrift compared to the dinosaurs. But it's all good. And for all I know, you're working to a plan, and I should shush and just keep enjoying the ride. This is definitely the scenic route of the mind... I mean that in a good way, since most documentary series and teaching courses have a limited time and a checklist of necessary items to get through,

[@HistoryoftheEarth]

Don't worry we'll get there! Thanks for watching!

[@meganbaker9116]

I think it's better than Eons, because some of the presenters on Eons talk too fast and they cover too much ground and present too much detail. I can't retain it! This video on viruses was one of the best science presentations I've ever seen. Just excellent.

[@mkvv5687]

@@HistoryoftheEarth A thoughtful reply to a thoughtful comment of a thoughtful video. Y'all win the trifecta.

[@halbkuppe4895]

@@meganbaker9116 also too many bad jokes on eons

[@meganbaker9116]

​@@halbkuppe4895 The woman who sometimes presents (I don't know her name), she does that bouncy thing with her hands CONSTANTLY and it drives me to distraction.

[@cortster12]

If I stopped the video in the first five seconds, I'd think Rome was the first virus.

[@balbeersinghnagi7600]

I find that I need to watch several times to grasp the meaning of the knowledge that you are giving. It is so fascinating and the clarity of explanation is so vivid that I am enslaved by your presentations. I feel that I must thank you for your presentations.

[@tfsheahan2265]

When mimiviruses were first discovered, there was speculation (I don't know how enlightened) that they might represent some stage of viral evolution that when incorporated into proto-eukaryotic cells, a similar symbiotic relationship evolved that eventually became the eukaryotic nucleus, not dissimilar to what happened to mitochondria. Has that speculation continued to develop, or has it been discarded?

[@TastySalamanders]

Viral eukaryogenesis is still a hypothesis that is gathering evidence, it hasn't been discarded but research regarding it is still being done, though it remains a controversial hypothesis. Interestingly when looking up to see if there was anything new I discovered the idea of viral eukaryogenesis actually predates the discovery of mimiviruses by about 2 years.

[@manumusicmist]

I feel like a stupid kid between two intelligent people

[@wayoutside]

Something like that must have happened, because when we look at these kinds of acids (like DNA), it seems clear that they can operate on their own yet are also vital to the living cell. And apparently 80% of DNA is accounted for in other, more ancient viruses.

[@DarwinianUniversal]

Amongst the greatest mysteries. What a wonderful set of questions and realizations. Hats off to you Leila and team

[@diegooland1261]

this is very good. thank you for posting!! keep them coming.

[@joangordoneieio]

Thank you for this. As one of the first HIV/AIDS outreach workers in the world,I became fascinated and horrified by viruses. This was really informative.

[@saschaesken5524]

😂

[@samsalamander8147]

Viruses and Prions scare me more than anything. Prions literally put me into a full existential crisis, I took care of my Grandmother with Alzheimer’s and frequently freak myself out that I might already have it and not even know. I sometimes lay in bed an imagine proteins missfolding, causing plaques on my brain that will only end in death and misery for not only me but every one around me.

[@saschaesken5524]

@@samsalamander8147 really? There is no reason to worry !

[@samsalamander8147]

@@saschaesken5524 Creutfeldt-Jakob disease, chronic waisting disease, Bovine/mink/feline/ungulate spongiform encephalopathy, scrapie, Gerstman-straussler-scheinker syndrome, fatal familial insomnia, kuru are all reasons to be extremely afraid but the worst part of prion disease is most of the time when it happens they have no idea where it came from. Alzheimer’s is probably the scariest as it’s the most common and studies are now showing it’s most likely catchy, nurses have a much higher rate of Alzheimer’s especially ones who worked with dementia patients.

[@worstdudeever]

@@saschaesken5524 You are ignorant to the unforgiving universe. Ignorance sometimes isn't bliss.

[@ladysquirrel9277]

About time!!! I literally just checked a few hours before and nothing was up yet. Just in time for lunch :-)

[@NigelScholey]

There is so much information in this video that it needs to be watched over and over again. Fascinating series

[@NolessHuman]

Great channel really well written and interesting videos keep up the great work!

[@bradsillasen1972]

Absolutely OUTSTANDING production! Hugely informative.

[@eardwulf785]

The narrator almost sounds contemporary to the times he describes. I don't know if it's his intention but he makes a good job of taking the viewer back in time with him.

[@JarodM]

Agreed~

[@belstar1128]

He sounds like someone from 3 billion years ago then or when he was talking about Rome he should be speaking Latin or its not contemporary since English did not exist yet.

[@eardwulf785]

@@belstar1128 I was talking about the mood he creates. 🙄

[@MarkMetEenC]

The channel Voices of the Past is exactly what you need then

[@eardwulf785]

@@MarkMetEenC Subscribed Marc, excellent channel 👍

[@PaulLemars01]

The production values of your work are through the roof! This show is spare, elegant and a testement to excellent writing, pacing, narration and editing. From the credits it appears three people are responsible for this 25 minutes and an entire series. Talented use of stock footage and I suspect the music is stock as well although you have selected it perfectly. Bravo!

[@JayChuckOnFire]

Incredible! Really good stuff man 👍

[@dda001]

This beautiful documentary took a whole year to reach me - I'm happy l was able to stumble on it and hope it spreads further to a wider audience 🙏

[@Ctenomy]

That was absolutely amazing, I think I found my new favorite KZbin channel!

[@AnythingMachine]

It's always amazed me how little we know about viruses and how recent our knowledge of them is - did you know that we had no idea the Spanish Flu was caused by a virus when it was spreading across the world? How times change

[@DrNova-hj6co]

It's unfair it's called Spanish Flu 🙄 But it doesn't matter now 😜 P.D A spanish guy. (I must say I miss subs in the video. I'm doing my best to understand everything). P.D. 2 Another interesting story is the Balmis Expedition. It deserves a movie!

[@oznews1]

Spanish flu was caused a virus when it was... what is ‘caused a virus’

[@gregoryfenn1462]

@@oznews1 I assume he meant caused BY a virus

[@ChristianF15cher]

In 1918 there were people who had living memory of a time when doctors thought bloodletting, heroin, cocaine, and mercury were all sound medicine.

[@bazsnell3178]

@@DrNova-hj6co Alternative names were also used at the time of the pandemic. Similar to the name of Spanish flu, many of these also alluded to the purported origins of the disease. In Senegal it was named 'the Brazilian flu', and in Brazil 'the German flu', while in Poland it was known as 'the Bolshevik disease'. In Spain itself, the nickname for the flu, the "Naples Soldier", was adopted from a 1916 operetta, The Song of Forgetting (La canción del olvido) after one of the librettists quipped that the play's most popular musical number, Naples Soldier, was as catchy as the flu. Today, however, 'Spanish flu' (Gripe Española) is the most widely used name for the pandemic in Spain. Other terms for this virus include the "1918 influenza pandemic," the "1918 flu pandemic", or variations of these.

[@pauln1557]

A superb documentary, written by adults for adults. Your channel is a refreshing find, I look forward to checking out all your other material. Regards Paul in NZ

[@BillMcSwain]

This is the first time I've seen your channel. You put together a well presented documentary. 💯

[@WitchyWagonReal]

It’s a crime that you only have 100+K subscribers. Nevertheless, soldier on! Very compelling work, accessible presentation... and we shall do try our best to turn people on to your channel. 👌🏾

[@bearcubdaycare]

Apparently KZbin recommendations are in part determined by comments.

[@ruthsmith1694]

I thought this to be a very well put together interesting and well researched film which i thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you. It all makes perfect sense as to how we evolved to where we are in the evolutionary stages of life on earth. Brilliant and amazing documentary. I also loved the narrators voice which blended in perfectly and described everything so well.

[@raulcheva]

This channel is a great find. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@greggrobinson5116]

Elegant and beautifully done. And right away I want to throw in with the viruses-preceding-cells faction, based just on the simple-precedes-complex principle.

[@gregorysagegreene]

The best hypothesis I've seen so far for the 'missing link' in a long chain series of steps for abiogenesis.

[@florincismaru1074]

What a wonderful episode!!! Ilove you guys for the content you produce.

[@3_Dogs_In_A_Trench_Coat]

You're the heroes I didn't know I needed. Congrats and thanks for your excellent videos.

[@Subfightr]

Absolutely beautifully done my friend. Thank you

[@JudgeMarek]

This was an outstanding presentation. Thank you for your efforts.

[@st96nikola]

i just discovered this channel and im really impressed

[@ruthlight7481]

The content is excellent,, and the videography so good that it made me subscribe.

[@BrokenSymetry]

Extremely informative with perfect narration!

[@Yezpahr]

Was this made for TV? It's so professionally put together and great narration, quite enjoyable.

[@bocbinsgames6745]

Damn, your production quality is top notch

[@alexc8920]

Amazing, as always. Thank you!

[@markhausknecht6061]

Amazing, wonderful vid, delivering usable information-painlessly!

[@Ardunafeth]

Must have been quite hard to resist talking about the C-virus. However, I'm glad you didn't. It keeps the focus on facts and science and less on politics... Love the video.

[@mrgreatauk]

Plus the algorithm might have buried the video!

[@bluenightfury4365]

When you call it the C-virus makes me think Resident evil lol

[@Kni0002]

It’s not political.... It’s a deadly virus

[@Benzene265]

@Kni SARS CoV-2 may be apolitical, but the humans it infects can be VERY political.

[@AK-el3we]

@@Kni0002 99.997% survival rate

[@citizendavid]

This is a much better quality but i think back to classroom (1960's) and the teacher rolls out the TV and we sit there watching a film on history for the period ..

[@brianfoster3615]

Thanks for spreading this!

[@arlaban22]

You are an amazing professional...good work.👍

[@stargatis]

So many secrets to be found when history and science mix🥰I love your channel

[@deusexaethera]

1:35 - "It struck indiscriminately, affecting Rome's citizens equally, with cruel indifference to position or stature." That sounds more like fairness than cruelty to me.

[@sirsanti8408]

The cruelty is fair

[@Silverfirefly1]

I thought it was a nice way to introduce how the people at the time would have shamelessly considered it. They really thought that fortune and favor went together, their standards for fairness were different to ours. It sounds like the writer is partially quoting someone and a notable writer at the time would have been someone of position and stature - biased and accustomed to it.

[@aapex1]

Once again, Leila knocks it out of the park! She is a gifted teacher and researcher, writer, and who knows what else? We are lucky to have access to her brain and this team.

[@leslieviljoen]

This is an incredible series, awesome work.

[@freakfreak786]

im confused how does such high quality content not have millions of views subbed

[@torehaaland6921]

I have an answer to that. A massive part of the population is only preoccupied with reality shows, fashion and easy content. True knowledge is not in fashion.

[@willhenry2567]

One of the best decisions of my life was clicking on this video while high. I don’t need sleep I need answers

[@umusachi]

Wow.. Brilliantly produced. Well done.

[@rabelaqua6889]

I like to have these playing in the background while I study sometimes because counterintuitive but it really helps with my ADHD and dissociative anxiety. Thanks :)) also happen to be studying virology rn for a college microbio exam

[@Phytologics]

this is a fantastic video, one that shows that life, at it's most fundamental level, is chemistry with new reactions, new products getting traded, stolen and hoarded by other, more complex chemistries. That's the stuff that blows my mind about life and this video sparked that again and again. Fantastic!

[@byondjewelry7563]

Listening while working, and just absolutely fascinated! Any chance you'd open a patreon?

[@rickockeloen5897]

Thank you for this channel. One of the best in my opinion.

[@SciMinute]

Wow! Really great explanation!

[@froggy187888]

Loved this😍😍, and as any good science doc should, started me thinking of more questions I never thought to ask. Subscribed. One thought, maybe someone more versed in the subject can shed more light on. It was mentioned that viruses account for more variations in our D.N.A than other processes, does anyone have informed response to the idea that this could be a major contributer to evolution?

[@FRISHR]

Maybe the real virus are the friends we make along the way.

[@E9Project]

What a wonderful channel, thank you!

[@samanvayasrivastava559]

I am so thankful for this quality content.. please keep sharing more this really opens our minds and inspires us to learn science

[@ridiculous_gaming]

Videos such as this are the reason why I ditched cablevision several years ago. Professionally and done with such quality.

[@johns1625]

I listened to an interview with a virologist a few years ago who said that very early in 2020 a lab in Switzerland was able to create the SARS Co-V2 virus completely from scratch in less than 48 hours just by analyzing a sample of it. The lab they used to do this only totaled in $250,000 in equipment... So basically any rich person could build any virus they wanted from a template just as easily as that, and I'm sure our knowledge in viruses has greatly increased since then too!

[@margodphd]

You can print any kind of DNA and RNA on demand without a business license. Getting it into the target however, without killing it.. different story. We don't have full access to the "worst" pathogens RNA - I think the research done is partially censored and very, very restricted and lack of public research done on increasing the "bad" "traits" mean there's little knowledge available. And this type of study is long, arduous and costly. I'm sure military does it, but very few will be privy to this knowledge. Replicating something already known isn't all that difficult - science KZbinrs do it, albeit not with viruses. , but with botulinum toxin being able to be isolated from soil and replicated in simple anaerobic colony I don't see how we can even look in that direction as the one being most dangerous, especially as fear continues to limit research funding. And viruses serve us well in many treatments.

[@granthurlburt4062]

This is very well done and read. I've been considering giving a sim presentation (Ppt) to my Env Science class about what viruses are. Trying to restrain myself from mentioning that genes are lengths of DNA that code for a protein which is made in the ribosome. Enzymes make everything happen in a cell. Good for you showing restraint!

[@claudelebel49]

Wonderfully narrated. As for the mystery, I am willing to live with it 🙂

[@charlesjmouse]

This series continues to be a pearl in a sea of fishy mucus - do please keep it up! Thank you.

[@john_critchley]

I think the question is: what came first, the cell membrane or the ribosome? If the ribosomes were floating around before cell membranes, all was happy with access for all (RNA) to get transcribed; but once cell membrances appeared you need to either have your own ribosome or find a way to use someone else's... hence cellular life and viruses...

[@sumreensultana1860]

Heh the oldest war In earth's history

[@granthurlburt4062]

The membrane. Lipids easily form spheres naturally.

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

Some think viruses are de-evolved amoebas who lost their cellular structures and kept only the RNA. All you need is a microbe to be mutated by some type of radiation in the right way obviously this can happen anywhere over billions of years

[@ryozun]

the quality of this video is just something else, very good work

[@TheMargarita1948]

This video tutorial on the “history” and “biology@ of viruses is very well done. Particularly notable to me was that the narration is excellent in that it is spoken at a speed a human can listen to and understand.