There are many questions that come to mind when the words Chimera Viruses are brought
up. What even are these viruses, do they occur naturally, in what environments do they
thrive, what makes them so special? These questions along with many more are thought of
when discussing this topic and each is more difficult to answer than the last. The truth
surrounding these viruses is that their mere existence is relatively new. Not much is known
about them but nevertheless their existence and continued existence is imperative and may
change the course of history forever. As science evolves as it has overtime more and more
will come out of being able to closely study these viruses. It won’t be long before we are
able to do with these organisms what we want and be able manipulate them in ways never
before thought possible by man.
So what exactly is the best way of understanding what a Chimera Virus is? Well, the
meaning is in its name. A Chimera in Greek and Roman mythology was a monstrous fire
breathing creature composed of multiple parts of various animals; a lion’s head, a goat’s
body and a serpent’s tail. Now the term Chimera is tossed around whenever there is a
creature or being of multiple parts or traits, which may be a surprising thought or reality
but tends to happen rather often in nature. So how does this work when viruses are topic of
choice? Quite simply scientists are now able to genetically modify a virus of their choice
by manipulating its genetic code by either removing traits from its base genome and
adding traits from other viruses, thus creating the ultimate virus.
Of course its first use as mentioned above is as a weapon, and in the past hit has very well
been used as such. As early as the 1930’s the Japanese had been testing out the
effectiveness and lethality of such a weapon. Though at the time technology was not where
it needed to be to fully understand and manipulate these strong viruses so it went very
south for them rather quickly. In 1937 during the Sino-Japanese war Japan had released
various biological agents into the main water supply. What they had thought would have
been the outcome really can’t be speculated but what did occur was a mass spread of
anthrax resulting in the death of what is estimated at around 3,000 people, including
