Science! Wasps grow viruses as bioweapons:
"If you puncture the ovary of a wasp called Microplitis demolitor, viruses squirt out in vast quantities... [The wasp] is a parasite that lays its eggs in caterpillars, and the particles in its ovaries are “domesticated” viruses that have been tuned to persist harmlessly in wasps and serve their purposes. The virus particles are injected into the caterpillar through the wasp’s stinger, along with the wasp’s own eggs. The viruses then dump their contents into the caterpillar’s cells, delivering genes that are unlike those in a normal virus. Those genes suppress the caterpillar’s immune system and control its development, turning it into a harmless nursery for the wasp’s young."
Knowable Magazine, 2024-05-07:
The wasps that tamed viruses#
evolution #
entomology #
wasp #
virus #
virology