I’ve tried searching for how rabies originated and results keep saying Old World bats. What I actually want to know is how did the bats get the virus, how did that very first bat get infected?
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It’s possible that no one knows, because the origin of things like viruses aren’t exactly easy to track down. We are learning more all of the time, though so the question could one day have a more definitive answer.
There is debate as to whether viruses are alive as they don’t entirely fit the mold of what a living system is, so for the sake of this, I will consider them to not be alive. It is believed that viruses in general, which are often considered to be “infectious particles”, originated from mobile genetic elements which are pieces of a genome(the “code” within living things, and now viruses too), that are able to find their way around and out of the cell. This process developed until these pieces became enclosed in a shell and viruses as we know them arose.
Now, viruses have genetic material in the form DNA or RNA, much like living things do. This material acts like bits of code that describes how a virus will behave, much like a blueprint tells someone how a house will be made. This code consists of bases, which are like letters, so the order in which the letters are arranged specify for certain proteins on the exterior of the virus. This is similar to how some arrangements of letters make no sense: zzaip, but some do: pizza! These proteins then allow the virus to bind to specific cells of certain tissues, in certain hosts (such as various animals, including humans). This works like a lock and key, the protein being the key to the tissues lock, so not every protein can bind to every tissue in every host. Some can only infect certain hosts with those “locks”. When in the host, the virus can mostly bind to certain types of tissue which are why some viruses affect nervous tissue, others may only affect the lungs and respiratory system, etc. Some viruses only infect bats, some only infect humans, others may infect both or many! The more versatile viruses have what are like master keys, while others may have only a “house key” or “car key”; in other words, they only work for a specific purpose.
Viruses can not replicate on their own, they use host machinery(cells and their contents) to do so. The problem, or benefit depending on the outcome, is that the copying of this code for the virus is not perfect. It’s like playing a game of telephone; as much care as you may take to retell the same exact sentence, what comes out on the other side will not always be the same as what you originally thought of. How can “The brown dog hopped over a fence.” become “The town’s fog was very dense.”? Gradual changes over time, that’s how.
With that said, not every change is going to make sense, much like not every little viral mutation is going to bring about any benefit or new type(strain or other such type) of virus. Some may change and quickly die out, but others may change and stick around for a while. Why, exactly?
Imagine that your sentences, as weird and wacky as they are, can serve as story opener. “The brown dog hopped over a fence.” would do, we can find a way to make a story out of it, perhaps some kind of lighthearted fable. Now imagine that you are repeating it to your friends and, as they repeat it to others, this happens: “The brown fog hopped over a fence.” Hm, it might elicit a chuckle but the novelty will soon die out…
Then you hear this: “The town’s fog knocked over a fence.” Same thing, not really worth keeping… but then something magical happens and you get “The town’s fog was worth ten cents.” and lastly “The town’s fog was very dense.”
Aha, now those little changes in wording or mutations gave way to something more meaningful. Now we can create a story with an entirely new meaning; instead of a cute fable, we have the setup, albeit a simple one, to a sinister and chilling thriller. Great, now everyone who knows the prompt loves it and proceeds to tell everyone else, and a new story is born, much like how a new virus takes shape and wrecks havoc in a much different way.
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