© LYNN SCURFIELDSince the dawn of microbiology, researchers have focused on pathogens that make us and our domesticated animals and plants sick. Because the onset of symptoms was the only way to know if specific viruses were present years ago, the most well-studied viruses are those that cause disease. But many viruses chronically infect humans without inducing disease, except perhaps in the very young, the very old, or the immunosuppressed.
In recent years, great leaps in genomic sciences have allowed researchers to detect viruses living in and on the human body—collectively called the human virome. Recent genomic explorations of human samples have revealed dozens of previously unrecognized viruses resident in our gut, lung, skin, and blood. Some of these newly identified viruses may underlie mysterious, unexplained diseases, but it is also possible that some of these viruses are harmless in most people, most of the time. Knowing how these newly discovered viruses affect humans will allow us to determine whether they are to be prevented, treated, ignored, or even encouraged.
Researchers can now identify viruses present using metagenomic analyses. This is achieved by comparing the genetic information from next-generation sequencing of clinical samples to the ...
