ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF VIRUSES

Though they are known to cause plethora of infectious diseases in man, plants and animals; viruses are very useful tools that can be exploited to the benefit of mankind. 

• Viruses are employed in the development of novel vaccines for the prevention of infectious diseases including those caused by viruses.

• Some viruses known as phage or bacteriophage that infect bacteria are used in bacterial taxonomy to classify bacteria. This is known as phage typing of bacteria; and in this technique the bacteria is classified based on the type of bacteriophage that they are susceptible to. And this has helped in the epidemiological containment of diseases especially in disease outbreak.

• Viruses are employed in the production of antiviral drugs and diagnostics used for laboratory diagnosis of some infectious diseases.

• Some viral particles can be used as pesticides to control rodents and pests in the farmlands.

• Reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme is an enzyme that catalyzes the transcription of RNA into DNA; and this enzyme is applied in recombinant DNA technology or molecular biology for the molecular manipulation of microorganisms. RT which can also be called RNA-dependent DNA polymerase is mainly produced by viruses in the Retroviridae family (e.g. retroviruses).

• Viruses can also serve as vectors for the transmission of genetic materials (i.e. genes or DNA) from one organism to another.

• Some viruses have been employed as anti-cancer agents for the treatment of cancer and other molecular diseases.       

• The study of viruses especially at the molecular level using cell/tissue culture techniques and electron microscopy has acquainted biologists with knowledge that led to the development of other fields such as cell and molecular biology. Such studies also led to the discovery of important cellular and metabolic components of cells that allowed scientists to understand the true nature of some molecular and infectious diseases of man.   

References

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Brian W.J Mahy and Mark H.C van Regenmortel (2010). Desk Encyclopedia of Human and Medical Virology. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, USA.

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Dimmock N (2015). Introduction to Modern Virology. Seventh edition. Wiley-Blackwell, New Jersey, United States.

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