Pandoravirus Discovered in Melbourne's La Trobe University, World's Largest Virus is No Threat to Humans! [VIDEO]

French researchers have discovered one of the largest viruses, the Pandoravirus, known to science in a Melbourne's La Trobe University pond. The Pandoravirus has been named after the myth of Pandora's Box because of its potential for great scientific consequences.

The giant virus was found in the shallow Melbourne pond which prompted new questions concerning the evolution of life on Earth. Unlike what scientists have seen before, the discovery has led to the creation of a new family of viruses, thus the name Pandoravirus.

The virus found in Melbourne's university pond was known as Pandoravirus dulcis. A sample of the virus was taken from La Trobe University'pond by Jean-Michel Claverie, an environmental virologist,in 2011.

The new-found virus has about 1.9 million DNA bases and 1500 genes, making it one of the largest viruses ever discovered by scientists in history. In comparison, most viruses like influenza and AIDS have only 10 genes or less.

The discovery of the Pandoravirus was announced on the cover of Science, a prestigious scientific journal, along with another virus family member found in Chile in 2009, known as Pandoravirus salinus. The Chilean Pandoravirus is larger than its relative in Melbourne, Australia with 2.47 million DNA bases and 2,556 genes. Pandoraviruses are known to thrive in sediments.

Professor Claverie had carried a sample of the Chilean pandoravirus when he visited Melbourne as a keynote speaker for a science conference. Mr. Claverie took a sample of the mud in Melbourne's La Trobe University pond. He thought he discovered another variant of the Chilean pandoravirus. After performing genome sequencing and extensive comparison, he found out they were two different Pandoraviruses.

The French researchers from Aix-Marseille University and the National Centre for Scientific Research have emphasized that these microorganisms do not pose a threat to plants, animals and humans. They are invaluable to research as the genes of the new viruses could lead the way to metabolic pathways which have the potential to revolutionise the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.