Viruses

>>8802359
Killing off excess population

>>8802359
they're the closest thing to abiogenesis, probably.

>>8802359
Found this, might be useful, at least as a starting point for further research.
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=15399.0

>>8802359
It doesn't matter. Their purpose is not to harm or benefit, it is to exist.

>>8802359
They were created by satan

>>8802382
this

>>8804239
It does matter.

Nearly all organisms play a role in their ecosystems, usually being both beneficial and harmful in some cases.

Despite the fact that viruses are the most common lifeforms (if you consider them as such) on Earth, very little is known about how beneficial they are to their environment.

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>>8804282
Horizontal gene transfer between species through viral vectors as well as killing off weakened populations. If you don't have regular die offs ecosystems start going crazy.

>>8804290
Cause pathology is a science dumbass

>>8804320
>If you don't have regular die offs ecosystems start going crazy.

It may be the other way around. Viruses may have wrecked the ecosystem to what it is now, with tons of die offs. Everything evolved to compensate. Had there been no viruses, everything would have evolved differently with a different type of ecosystem.

Horizontal gene transfer. There are also a lot of microbial mutualistic relationships between microbes and their phages, most of which are poorly understood.

They are to microbes as bacteria are to our digestive system. Some are beneficial to us, some are commensal, some are opportunistic pathogens, some are obligate parasites.

>>8804331
That's not how that works, life eats up everything it can until there is nothing left and fucks until their dicks fall off. If you take the basic ecological example of deer and wolves viruses are analogous to wolves. If you leave the deer too long they grow up and destroy all their food, starve to death and the ecosystem collapses. Viruses are just one of many many many wolves but on a microscopic scale capable of dealing with bacteria and even other viruses. I mean think about the most basic infectious pathogen, a prion, it may seem like a purely destructive force but in plants and fungi it is a signalling molecule that changes phenotypes of the organisms involved. Nothing evolves for a purpose or exists in an ecosystem for a reason but everything serves a function. If plants didn't exist fungi would have probably devolved photosynthetic activity, bugs didn't exist there would be small fucking mammals and reptiles, etc. etc. etc.