PLANET EARTH
SCIENTISTS FIND ANEW VIRUS IN A DEEP PART OF THE PACIFIC
WORDS BEN TURNER
The new virus has been identified as a bacteriophage
A new virus found inside the Mariana Trench is believed to be the deepest ever discovered. The virus, called vB_HmeY_H4907, was found at a depth of 8,839 metres inside the Mariana Trench, which drops to about 11,000 metres at its lowest point on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. “To our knowledge, this is the deepest known isolated phage in the global ocean,” said Min Wang, a marine virologist at the Ocean University of China.