Viruses as a Cure

Zimmer, Carl.  “Viruses as a Cure.”  New York Times.  20 Nov 2014.  19 Nov 2014.

< http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/science/viruses-as-a-cure.html?_r=0>

            For my current event this month, I read Carl Zimmer’s article entitled “Viruses as a Cure.”  Zimmer discussed that our bodies have trillions of viruses, but some of them may actually have healing power.  Zimmer described research that was done by Dr. Ken Cadwell from New York University’s School of Medicine.  Dr. Cadwell was studying the microbiome, which is the community of microbes living in our bodies.  One of the microbiome’s functions is to make sure that our intestines develop normally.  In a healthy intestine, the inner wall has a thick layer of fingerlike projections called villi.  When scientists raised germ-free mice in sterile cages, their layer of intestinal villi turned out to be thin.  Germ-free mice also did not develop a normal supply of immune cells in their intestines, so they were more vulnerable to injuries and infections.  Dr. Cadwell launched an experiment and infected the germ-free mice with a virus called the murine novirus.  Even though the germ-free mice had a thin layer of intestinal villi and a lower supply of immune cells in their intestines, they developed a normal immune system and normal intestines.  He wondered if viruses can restore the intestine when it has been disturbed.  Heavy doses of antibiotics kill off much of the microbiome.  Some villi die, and the number of immune cells goes down.  But as bacteria return to the intestines, the damage is fixed.  To see whether viruses have the same effect, Dr. Cadwell gave antibiotics to normal mice for two weeks.  When the mice were then infected with murine novirus, their intestines were returned to normal. 

            I chose Carl Zimmer’s article because I was interested to learn about how viruses can have healing power.  I thought that all viruses were harmful like Ebola and influenza. It was very interesting to learn that there are some viruses that are actually healthy for your body.  This article is very significant to humanity because there are so many diseases affecting people in the world.  For people who have failing immune systems, it is important that research is being done to uncover viruses that can actually help cure them.  People in my family have suffered from diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease.  It is encouraging to know that viruses may eventually help to fight these diseases and others as well.  Dr. Cadwell’s research is a step in the right direction, but he said that he does not think that people will begin taking pills full of viruses to treat immune disorders.  Everyone is different, so Dr. Cadwell said harmless viruses might turn out to be dangerous in some people.

            Carl Zimmer’s article was very well-written.  One thing he did well was that he gave an excellent summary of Dr. Cadwell’s research suggesting that there are viruses in the world that are good for you.  Zimmer also did a great job in explaining that Dr. Cadwell’s work is an important first step to begin more research.  For example, he quoted Julie K. Pfeiffer, a virologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, regarding the great work done by Dr. Cadwell and his colleagues.  Pfeiffer said, “They did a very good job of starting to crack that nut.”  Zimmer also included the expert opinion of David T. Pride, a microbiologist at the University of California San Diego.  Pride said that “Cadwell’s new study would spur other researchers to see if they can find similar results in humans.”  Zimmer also gave some helpful background about the microbiome and the intestines that helped me to understand the article better.  I also liked the title that Zimmer selected.  His title “Viruses as a Cure” was simple and to the point, and it caught my eye because you normally do not think of a virus as providing a cure.   As far as how Zimmer could have improved the article, the overall message of what Dr. Cadwell had concluded was clear, but I found the description of all of his research very difficult to understand.  Perhaps Zimmer could have shortened the overall description, but explained the highlights in more depth.  Zimmer also talked about different experiments that were done by Dr. Cadwell, but it was hard at times to understand how they made sense together. 

            Although this article was difficult to read, I am glad I selected it because I was happy to learn that scientists are looking for viruses in nature that can help fight diseases and provide cures.