Scientists have discovered the first virovore – an organism that eats viruses

Re:Scientists have discovered the first virovore – an organi... by nomel on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @06:54PM (#34239872)

Macrophages, like the ones that liv in your mouth, also eat virus: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/macrophage

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Re:Scientists have discovered the first virovore – an organi... by d1sxeyes on Thursday January 05, 2023 @04:24AM (#34257704)

I think the use of the word 'eat' is a bit non-specific. Macrophages cannot survive on a diet of virus. They can absolutely 'eat' it in the sense of taking it from outside the cell, breaking it down into constituent components inside the cell, and then putting it back outside the cell as waste, but they can't use viruses as a food source.

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