Not yet.

I think it should, though—especially in ways that strengthen the vision of interconnected creation outlined by Pope Francis in Laudato si'.

Influenced by literal readings of Scripture as well as an implicitly Cartesian picture of the world, many Americans operate with three sets of sharp distinctions:

1. between living and nonliving beings;
2. between different types of living beings, arranged in a rigid hierarchy; and
3. between inert matter and vibrant mind or soul.

But if we start to consider how viruses operate, all three sets of distinctions begin to dissolve, and interconnections take centre stage.

What is a virus?

It's an aggressive snippet of DNA (or RNA in the case of retroviruses).

Many viruses operate by fusing themselves with the outer membrane of the target cell and then working their way toward the nucleus.

Once there, they take over the cell's genetic mechanisms, reprogramming the cell to make more virions (single particles of the virus) rather than fulfil its normal functions.

Eventually, the virions overwhelm and rupture the host cell.

Newly liberated, the virions go on to seek other cells to infiltrate, moving from cell to cell and from organism to organism.

Does that mean a virus is alive?

That's a difficult question. Some scientists say no, they are more like chemistry sets. Unlike viruses, living beings autonomously consume, process, and expend energy.

Moreover, a virus cannot reproduce on its own through a process of cell division, in the way a simple amoeba can.

But others argue that a virus is alive, or at least intermittently alive. It may not reproduce itself, but it does actively organize its own reproduction.

Maybe there is a middle ground: in a fascinating article in Scientific American (December 2004), Luis P. Villarreal argues there is a "spectrum...between what is certainly alive and what is not."

Villarreal, the founding director of the Center for Virus Research at UC Irvine, asks us to think of life as "an emergent property of a collection of certain nonliving things."

Viruses may not be alive, but they are lively

Many people also assume there are rigid boundaries between various forms of living beings, whether that assumption comes from the first chapters of Genesis or a simplistic understanding of evolution.

Evolution's travelling salesmen, viruses peddle their genetic wares near and far.

They think that bacteria are one thing, plants yet another, animals a different thing, and people something else entirely.

They also assume that the development from simple to complex life forms is neat and linear so that each more complex being that emerges includes everything in the category below and adds something new and bigger, like a set of Russian dolls.

But viruses show us that the development of complex life forms is itself staggeringly complex and even messy.

Villarreal notes that between 113 and 223 genes present in both the genetic makeup of bacteria and human beings are absent in intermediate forms of life, like yeast.

He suspects that those genes did not disappear and then re-evolve, but rather were somehow inserted into both bacteria and human beings by the same virus. Evolution's travelling salesmen, viruses peddle their genetic wares near and far.

They create surprising links between vastly different types of living entities, all of which are connected by their dependence on the same four building blocks that make up the DNA of all living things.

Finally, viruses challenge the idea that non-living matter is inert and static. Viruses may not be alive, but they are lively. And really, so is all matter. Inertness is an illusion.

In the last century, we have learned that each atom of matter is full of motion and energy, as electrons circle the atom's protons, neutrons, and nucleus.

Chemical reactions occur not only in lab experiments but inside human beings. Continue reading

Nina Pham, a nurse from Texas, was the first person to contract the virus within the United States.

This is believed to have happened when she was nursing Thomas Duncan, who subsequently died.

Now declared free of Ebola after five negative test results, Ms Pham gave thanks to God and to all who prayed for her.

"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," Ms Pham said in a press conference on October24.

"I would first and foremost like to thank God, my family and friends. Throughout this ordeal, I have put my trust in God and my medical team."

Her friends have described Ms Pham as a devout Catholic.

She also thanked fellow survivor Dr Kent Brantly for donating his blood plasma for her treatment.

Ms Pham called his donation a "selfless act".

"I believe in the power of prayer because I know so many people all over the world have been praying for me," she continued.

"I join you in prayer now for the recovery of others."

Ms Pham thanked everyone who had been involved in her care, both in Texas and in Maryland at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr Anthony Fauci, from the National Institutes of Health, said it wasn't clear which treatment saved Ms Pham because they were all experimental.

Before returning to her "normal life" in Texas, Ms Pham received a bear hug from President Barack Obama in the Oval Office in Washington.

Ebola continues to devastate parts of west Africa.

The World Health Organisation said that nearly 5000 deaths had been reported as of October 19, but the true numbers could be as high as 15,000.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• ABC
• Image: ABC

An air force plane from Spain was sent on August 6 to get Fr Miguel Pajares, 75, who was in West Africa doing missionary work.

The illness has claimed the lives of nearly 900 people in the region since February.

There is no known cure and no vaccine to protect against the disease.

Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.

It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.

Fr Pajares had been working in Liberia for more than five decades

When told he would be repatriated, his reaction was: "This news has lifted my spirits, it is great, I am very happy. It is worth fighting on."

Spanish authorities organised his repatriation in line with World Health Organisation procedures.

Fr Pajares belongs to the Madrid-based, non-profit organisation Juan Ciudad and the Hospital Order of San Juan de Dios, which had requested the priest's urgent transfer to Spain.

He will be treated at the Hospital Carlos III in northern Madrid, which specialises in tropical diseases.

The Spanish priest has been in quarantine at Saint Joseph Hospital in Monrovia, along with five other missionaries, since the death of the hospital's director from Ebola.

Two of the missionaries, from African nations, had tested positive for Ebola and Fr Pajares asked if they could also be brought to Spain with him.

But Spanish authorities said they are only working on a request to help a Spanish citizen.

Two Americans who worked for Christian aid agencies in Liberia and were infected with Ebola were brought back to the United States for treatment in recent days.

Sources

• Daily Mirror
• Associated Press
• Image: Cuatro

The Japanese government's decision is the result of 1,968 reported cases of possible side effects, 43 of which have been examined by a health ministry task force. Since 2010, 3.28 million Japanese women have received the human papillomavirus vaccination.

In the United States, on the other hand, there's good news with virus thought to be half as common as it used to be, despite only about a third of young women receiving the full vaccine course of three shots.

So, what are we to make of the vaccine? Here are answers to four common questions about it, based on a research paper I recently published with two co-authors.

Does the vaccine prevent infection with the virus?

Both the human papillomavirus vaccines (Gardasil and Cervarix) have been shown to reduce the virus infection rate by over 90%. This reduction is maintained for at least five years.

The catch (and there's always a catch) is that for the vaccine to be this effective, it has to be given to people who have not been exposed to the virus.

This is why the vaccine is given to 12 to 13-year-olds in Australia and 14 to 19-year-olds in the United States.

Will the vaccine cause a rise in other HPV types?

The human papillomavirus vaccines available in Australia target two (types 16 and 18) of the 15 high-risk virus strains associated with cancer.

Questions have been asked about whether one or more of the remaining 13 cancer-causing virus types will become more common to "fill the gap" left by their reduction. Continue reading

Sources

• The Conversation
• Image: Women's Health