By Mary Goetsch,
Aurora, Ill.
I wish to correct virus misinformation which arose from popular periodicals published in Winter 2020. I am not the only one who believed that SARS-Cov-2 is from retrovirus. To set the record straight, SARS-Cov-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is a single-strand, positive-sense RNA virus. Prior to explaining the error, I point out that ultimately all virus classification is a construct. Philosopher Kant, in his Critique of Pure Reason, wrote that science only can speak on how things appear; it is not immutable, absolute, truth.
The first publication I saw on COVID was Time-Life Special Edition in Winter 2020 on display until July 2020. I got it in March when bookstores and libraries were closed. Walmart sold magazines and book they had in-store. An important article on coronavirus outbreaks in the past, by science journalist Alice Park stated, “Coronavirus, like HIV, is an RNA virus, which means its primary genetic material is made up of RNA.”
I think you can se the problem with this comparison is that it is misleading to anyone who knows that HIV is a retrovirus. One focuses on the wrong part of the statement. Although essentially all retroviruses are RNA viruses, the vast majority of RNA viruses are not of the retrovirus type.
If one wants to know more, virus classification easily can be looked up and understood by a simple Google search with key words, Virus Classification Baltimore. The Baltimore prompts will pop up because this system is used internationally by the ICTV (International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses).
The coronaviruses are typed Class IV. The two types of retroviruses are Class VI (HIV and HTLV-3 and HTLV-4) and a rare DNA type called Cass VII. Retroviruses are distinguished because they have a special replication step in which they form a DNA intermediate within the cycle.
The HIV and other Type VI end up single-strand RNA such as the coronaviruses, but having the extra step make it possible in theory for the virus to become part of one’s self and permanent DNA. I have seen evolutionary theory that claims five percent to 10% of our genome has come from viruses, over the course of millions of years.