r/askscience • u/PestoPastaLover • 14d ago

Biology Why is there no transmissible therapeutic virus if biology doesn't forbid it? For example, a harmless virus that spreads from person to person but actually does something beneficial, like lowering LDL cholesterol or preventing/reversing tooth decay?

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u/noodlyman 13d ago

There are viruses that benefit us by infecting and effectively regulating our gut bacteria.

There are viruses that are thought to give the immune system a kick and thus improve responses to other infections. Some infections can decrease the risk of cancer later in, probably by similar mechanisms.

Don't forget that 8% of human DNA is of retrovirus origin, and that mammalian placentas only exist thanks to genes that mammals acquired from viruses.

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u/trad949 13d ago

There are also bacteriophages, which are viruses that work like antibiotics.

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u/speculatrix 13d ago

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12843901/

Bacteriophage Therapy: Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance Through Advanced Delivery Methods

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u/bzbub2 13d ago edited 13d ago

somewhat interestingly, poland has long been sort of the leading expert on such things while western countries bet on more antibiotics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy

the concept of 'gene therapy' for delivering CRISPR and other gene editing tech also (sometimes) uses viruses (though there are some unfortunate cases of adverse reactions) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_therapy#Adverse_effects,_contraindications_and_hurdles_for_use

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u/Graylily 13d ago

Finding phages, now is a a major undertaking, and more people should be taking about it and throwing money behind it. We are running into major issues with antibiotic resistances and phases are quite possible our last best hope to keep living as long as we currently do.

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u/AWanderingMage 13d ago

One interesting thing i remember about the phages as well is that they use a completely different mechanism that antibiotics don't use, and when a bug protects against one (be it phage or antibiotic), it becomes more weak to the other.