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Scientists have discovered more than 1,000 new viruses
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Despite the huge advances in science, many microorganisms remain unknown, so in one of the latest studies, more than 1000 new viruses were discovered. The new scientific work involved specialists from different countries, they were able to identify a new way of transmitting viruses and their carriers. As it turned out, viruses that can be dangerous to humans are often spread by invertebrates. According to experts, none of the identified viruses were known to science before, and the international group of experts published their findings in one of the scientific publications.
Experts noted that the new large-scale work completely changes the understanding of virology; until today, science was unaware of more than 1,000 viruses, but it is possible that there are many more and scientists will need a lot of time to study all viruses, the methods of transmission to humans and the degree of danger they pose. According to experts, not only invertebrates can carry viruses, but animals, insects and worms can also be carriers, but this assumption is just a theory and it is necessary to conduct a number of studies to confirm or refute the assumption of experts.
The head of the new research project, Edward Holmes, noted that no research group had previously conducted similar studies to study and classify viruses in such large quantities, most likely due to limited knowledge in this area. Scientists could not even imagine such a huge number of viruses in nature, since neither science nor medicine had dealt with the diseases they caused. The work is currently ongoing, and scientists are confident that it is necessary to learn how to protect ourselves from viruses carried by invertebrate microorganisms and the diseases they cause, since contact with them is practically impossible to avoid.
Another research group studied when viruses are most active and pose the greatest danger to human health. As it turned out, a person is defenseless against viruses in the morning, especially after night shifts or long flights, when there is a change in time zones. At the University of Cambridge, a team of scientists stated that the shaken human biorhythms contribute to the fact that viruses begin to actively multiply in the body. Scientists made such conclusions after a series of experiments on laboratory rodents that were infected with flu and herpes viruses. In the body of rodents that were infected in the morning, there were many more viruses, compared to those infected in the evening. Scientists believe that viruses are not able to attack the body's cells after a certain time of day. In addition, during the experiments, it was found that the most vulnerable to viruses were rodents with disrupted biological rhythms. According to Rachel Edgar, who took part in the study, people who work night shifts are more susceptible to viral diseases.
Although the Cambridge scientists used two types of viruses in their work, they believe that similar principles apply to other viruses.
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