The Laptev Virus

“I don’t know about brilliant,” said Drew, blushing slightly. “I just wondered if modern Asian elephants might also be carriers of the virus, you know, since they are the living species that is most closely related to the mammoth. I wasn’t sure if anyone had ever looked at those elephants that way. I mean, especially if the virus was silent, then perhaps it could have been present in the elephant’s tissues and no one would have noticed it.”

“Perhaps.” said Rhonda, placing the tips of her fingers on her chin pensively. “It seems a reasonable thing to take a look at.”

“So we contacted an elephant reserve in northern Asia,” said Tally.

“I have a friend who speaks Cantonese and she translated for us,” said Drew.

“And they sent us some tissue samples from several different animals, old and young,” concluded Tally.

Sarah was glad that these two were sitting next to one another or it would have been like watching a tennis match, having to keep swiveling her head between the speakers. As it was, she only had to flick her eyes back and forth.

“Well?” said Rhonda, obviously barely able to contain herself. “What did you find? Are they carriers?”

Sarah realized that if the elephants were found to carry the virus, this would be a tremendously important breakthrough. Prior to the recent macabre discovery that the Laptev virus had the ability to infect humans, there were no documented cases of Megaviridae affecting anything larger than an amoeba. Indeed, it was only in the last ten years that giant viruses had been discovered, all in remote locations of the planet, and she did not know if anyone had ever searched for them inside animal cells.

Sarah thought about Asian elephants for a moment. What did she know about them? Human efforts were largely centered on trying to protect them from poachers who supplied profligate wealthy avarices who had an insatiable appetite for ivory. Thus these large mammals were on the verge of extinction. But how much was known about their physiology? Could it be that these pachyderms carried a hidden stowaway? Might they harbor a large, hitherto obscure virus, a vestige from their furrier ancestors? It would certainly be an interesting twist.

Tally grimaced and said, “No, unfortunately the Asian elephants do not appear to be carrying the virus.”

Sarah let out a breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding, and closed her eyes. It was another dead end.

“Furthermore, when we cultured the Asian elephant cells and introduced the virus, it did not seem to parasitize the cells the way we would have expected,” Drew said. “The tests aren’t conclusive yet, of course, but our initial trials seem to indicate that the virus enters the cells and integrates into the chromosomal DNA, but does not produce an outright infection. Instead it just kind of rides along, not growing, and not bothering the cells.”

“A latent virus,” said Emile.

“Maybe that’s how it infected the humans,” added Miquela, who was also being carried away with the excitement of the conversation. “Maybe the virus was just hanging out in the woolly mammoths and then when the humans killed it, they became contaminated.”

“Well, I hesitate to agree,” said Drew, running his long fingers through his hair. “My understanding is that even latent viruses do, at some point, become active and virulent. And maybe Laptev viruses in the elephant cells will eventually become virulent as well, under conditions we have yet to assess, but for now, the virus just behaves itself, staying put and not giving the elephant cells any reason to fear it.”

“Maybe it would have infected woolly mammoths, but these Asian elephants are different enough genetically that the virus doesn’t really do anything to them,” suggested Emile.

Tally raised an eyebrow and nodded. Drew seemed preoccupied with another screen and was tapping away at the laptop.

Sarah nodded slowly as she thought about the idea. She had to admit that she was intrigued. “So, let me see, if I understand correctly then, based on the excellent work you two have done in the last three weeks, and the information Emile, Shane and Miquela have also gathered, our working theory is that in this particular basin, the Laptev virus was present in unusually large concentrations in the ice cores, possibly because it was carried in human cells and perhaps, but not necessarily, mammoth cells as well at some point in the ancient past. Then something happened: perhaps there was a mass extermination event or something.”

“Polar bears attacked! And they slaughtered everyone in a ten mile radius. The blood soaked into the icy ground and the virus became frozen in time,” said Shane, who was so excited that a small drop of saliva flew from his mouth as he spoke.