Scientists have discovered a virus that lives in the bowel of more than one-half – perhaps even 75 percent – of the man ’s population . But it probably wo n’t make you grim . The computer virus infects and replicates itself inside one of the most common type of gut bacterium , Bacteroidetes , which has been entail in obesity , diabetes , and other gut - related diseases .

They call it crAssphage , and it’sdescribedinNature Communicationsthis week .

This new find out bacterium - infecting computer virus ( or bacteriophage ) was stumbled on by fortuity . Bas DutilhandRobert Edwards from San Diego State Universitywere screen for new viruses ,   take apart the DNA in   faecal samples from 12 people . That ’s when they detect how all the sample had a particular clump of viral desoxyribonucleic acid about 97,000 base pairs long – that ’s about 10 meter as large as HIV . They found nothing like it among known computer virus .

When they screened for the computer virus in interior , publicly available databases , they found that it was “ highly abundant ” in human feces - come samples . Then , using desoxyribonucleic acid elaboration , the squad located the computer virus in the original   samples to validate that the viral DNA they found on their computer actually exists in substantial life .

It turn out to be a new computer virus that the legal age of people sampled had in their bodies that nobody know anything about . It was present in 342 of the 466 fecal “ metagenomes ” they looked at . So if crAssphage is n’t   in you , you ’ll likely find it   in the person next to you . “ It ’s not unusual to go looking for a fresh virus and retrieve one , ” Edwards says in anews release . “ But it ’s very strange to find one that so many masses have in common . The fact that it ’s fly under the microwave radar for so long is very strange . ”

They named it after the cross - assembly software political program used for its find – and not after   where the computer virus is find . " Oh , no , we never cogitate of that,“Edwards tells NPR . " We would never be crass . "

Since some of crAssphage ’s proteins are like those find in well - known computer virus , Dutilh and colleagues were able to count on out that it ’s a phage , and they further predict that it proliferate by taint the vernacular catgut bacteriaBacteriodetes , which be toward the end of the enteral parcel .

Because it ’s so widespread ,   it   ca n’t be very young – credibly as   old as humans are .   So how is it that we ’ve only just detected this super common computer virus that ’s inwardly at least half of us ? Shrug … but it take place a great deal . accord to Dutilh , three - one-fourth of the DNA sequences in a new stool sample are unknown .

Further point about crAssphage have been hard to come by . “ We have a go at it it ’s there , but we ca n’t capture it quite yet,”Edwards say . They do know that it ’s not institute in very young infant faecal samples , so it ’s not acquire from the mom . Also , the make-up of the viral DNA suggests it has a circular structure ( pictured ) .

Once it ’s set apart , the researcher hope to explore the virus ’s character in fleshiness . If crAssphage mediates the activity ofBacteriodetescolonies , it might have a hand in promoting or suppressing obesity - related processes .