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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

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Published on: June 16, 2011
Neo-virology: The raison d'etre of viruses
Tokiko Watanabe1, Nobuhiro Suzuki1, Keizo Tomonaga1
1Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8639, Japan.
Abstract:
Given that approximately 1031 virus particles exist on Earth and all of them are parasitic in living organisms, it is not hard to imagine how virus infection might affect the physiology of hosts and their ecosystems. However, traditional virology research tends to focus on viral pathogenicity or the individual pathogenic viruses; hence, the significance of viruses and viral-mediated processes in the global ecosystem has been poorly understood. To identify the previously unrecognized "raison d'etre of viruses" in nature, we established a research community, designated as the 'Neo-virology' consortium. In this consortium, we define a virus as a component of the global ecosystem and our aim is to elucidate its key roles in host organisms, that is, the intra-host ecosystem.
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