Virus, largest on planet to date discovered on Chile’s coast

Found in Las Cruces and named Megavirus chilensis, is so great that it can be seen by an ordinary microscope. In April 2010, off the coast of Las Cruces, in the town of Tabor, a group of scientists collected samples of sea looking for new viruses. Following the trend of not waiting to infect humans, but to anticipate and track them in different environments, biologists tracked around the world at various points in the South Pacific. A group of them, of the U. Aix-Marseille (France), working in the Coastal Marine Research Station (IMTS) that the U. The Catholic has in Punta Lacho of Las Cruces, when looking through a microscope they discovered a “giant” virus, the largest discovered so far. Because of its location, was baptized Megavirus chilensis. Read Article