In the battle against climate change, researchers have stumbled upon an unexpected new ally in the waters of our world: viruses.
Although not the kind that causes one to fall ill, these tiny minuscule creatures hold the potential to dramatically revolutionize carbon capture, a process essential to lower the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere, a key driver of global warming.
A team of experts in marine biology and climate science from Ohio State University have identified several ocean-based viruses and analyzed their genomes to assess their thieving capability to "steal" cells that process carbon in the sea.
"I was shocked that the number was that high," said Matthew Sullivan, a professor of microbiology and the director of the Center of Microbiome Science at Ohio State University, in a statement, highlighting the 128 metabolic pathways found in the genomes of ocean viruses.
“The modeling is about how viruses may dial up or dial down microbial activity in the system,” Sullivan added. “Community metabolic modeling is telling me the dream data point: which viruses are targeting the most important metabolic pathways, and that matters because it means they’re good levers to pull on.”
Fighting climate change
The research team's work suggests that when these viruses infect certain marine organisms, they can "dial up" the ocean's capacity to sequester carbon.
This means that the ocean could potentially become a carbon sink and reduce the influx of CO2 from our atmosphere into the deep ocean, thereby combating global climate change.
"Oceans soak up carbon, and that buffers us against climate change. CO2 is absorbed as a gas, and its conversion into organic carbon is dictated by microbes," Sullivan remarked. "What we're seeing now is that viruses target the most important reactions in these microbial community metabolisms. This means we can start investigating which viruses could be used to convert carbon toward the kind we want."
In 2016, a team from the Tara Oceans Consortium— a three-year global study of the impact of climate change for which Sullivan served as virus coordinator— discovered the connection between carbon sinking in the ocean and the presence of viruses. Viruses were identified as key players in facilitating the sinking process when virus-infected carbon-processing cells cluster into larger aggregates that drop to the ocean floor. AI-based analytics were employed to identify specific viruses for further study, referred to as "VIP" viruses, which, the team believe, could serve as model systems for ocean geoengineering.
Viruses as agents of change
The implications of this research extend beyond oceans, as scientists explore the possibility of using viruses to engineer microbiomes in various settings. Professor Sullivan's lab is applying the lessons learned from oceanic studies to human settings, aiming to engineer microbiomes for purposes such as aiding spinal cord injury recovery, improving outcomes for infants born to mothers with HIV, and combating infection in burn wounds.
Additionally, early efforts are underway to use phages as geoengineering tools in a vastly different ecosystem: the permafrost in northern Sweden, marking a novel approach to address the changing climate in regions where frozen soil is thawing.
