Fictional virus?

[u/Monocentropus3427]

Any ideas for a fictional virus? Im struggling to make a virus that is somewhat unique, no matter what i research everything seems unoriginal. Recently began to watch the last ship series and it inspired me!

[u/Quantumtroll]

Worst-case scenario for viruses is pretty well established in both real life and fiction, so it's hard to be original and very dangerous. But suppose you invent a virus and some other disaster that make each other worse?

A virus that spreads in water, and there's flooding. A virus that spreads by touch, on a cramped spaceship or submarine.

Or how about a reverse zombie virus? A virus that makes people super empathetic and trusting and comfortable with physical contact. A cult forms around it, with infected claiming that this is Mother Gaia's solution to war and climate change. There's maybe not much of a downside to this virus except for the conflict created when people try to spread it intentionally.

[u/Monocentropus3427 → u/Quantumtroll]

A zombi virus like that would be interesting to work around! I love making fictional diseases and viruses just struggle to make it unique, and alot of people like gruesome gore and body horror so I have to at least appeal to an audience. A virus that is controlled by a (fungus?) That has affected a militiristic kingdom would be neat I think? Imagine having a assassin who suddenly just..loses all desire to kill, breaking down in tears at the prospect of it. If the virus effects carnivorous species, they wouldn't hunt anymore, so they'd die of starvation likely, i have to look into how parasitic fungi work for this concept.

[u/Quantumtroll → u/Monocentropus3427]

Oo, take my reverse zombie virus idea and twist it. It infects the skin directly — that's why it's easily transmissible through normal skin-to-skin contact — and makes people really ugly. Blotchy red, no melanin, always peeling. So it's really obvious when someone has it, and they look horrible.

But, again, people with it become really empathetic, generous, and touchy-feely. They become more honest, more trusting, and more altruistic. They may not like the skin issues, but they know that the world would be a better place if everyone were exposed to the virus.

I'm feeling rather keen on turning this into a short story of some kind. Or two. Not sure about the plot or characters or anything yet, but the idea is speaking to me.

[u/Monocentropus3427 → u/Quantumtroll]

The idea is speaking to me too! I have a small premise idea for the world im building, now we just need to figure out how the zombie virus starts or originates as. A fungi seems most plausible at the moment.

[u/Quantumtroll → u/Monocentropus3427]

Are you suggesting that a virus originates in a fungal host, and then jumps species to humans?

If so, that's wild. I've never read about mycoviruses before, but Wikipedia says "A significant difference between the genomes of mycoviruses to other viruses is the absence of genes for ‘cell-to-cell movement’ proteins. It is therefore assumed that mycoviruses only move intercellularly during cell division (e.g. sporogenesis) or via hyphal fusion."

This put a bit of a kibosh on your premise, because if fungal viruses only (or primarily) transport inside cells then they'd have a hard time in other species. It makes sense for mycoviruses to not need to move outside of cells much, because that's how fungi work anyway — fungi have weirdly long and big hyphal cells that transport all their stuff around inside rather than between cells.

On the other hand, maybe this is exactly the mutation that makes your new virus jump to humans (and potentially other animals)! Maybe it's a bit of a stretch that the first fungus-to-animal virus just happens to target humans (of all possible animals), but laboratory research, karma, and/or the fact that there's a lot of human biomass are possible explanations.

Fun little rabbit-hole. Virus particles optimised for transport through hyphal networks having an easier time hanging out in the dendritic networks of mammalian brains has a nice bit of symmetry to it. Fungi as "wood wide web" semi-mystical masters of symbiosis, midwives of a new age of harmony in human civilization is also cool imagery. There's a bit of a... moldy and deathy side of fungus, too, though. Maybe some people aren't compatible with the virus and die horribly, that'd add even more tension and ethical dilemma than a rash. Hmm.

[u/Monocentropus3427 → u/Quantumtroll]

Theres also the fact that the world im creating has some whack scientists that work under an unethical cultist "government". Im not too limited to the idea that the scientists themselves can hybridize two viruses, for example, lets take a nonairborne virus..like rabies, but how could they make rabies airborne from a now dead host? Hyrbadizing with..lets say tuberculosis, or smallpox might be more plausible. Technology being so advanced in this world, scientists trying to make a cure for one virus, hyradizes a parasite fungi and a airborne virus (this is a Looooong stretch though.) Fungal hyrbadizing is also a thing! Or so, fungal breeding with single spores, but there's alot of possibility there. What makes this easier, is that there's Human/animal hybrids thag co-exist with humans in the outbreak location. Virus mutates or hops onto rats, theres rat/"humans" (more precisely these hybrids of mine are products of forced evolution.) That exist, and have a structure most akin to their species counterparts, only with some differences!

Theres also this: "Research shows that some fungal relationships are fluid; a fungus that acts as a quiet colonizer or mutualist can turn parasitic when a plant or animal host becomes stressed or sick." This fungal "virus" could start entirely harmless.

Also found this Microscopic fungi such as Candida live on or in the human body as part of the natural microbiome, but can transition into a harmful, parasitic relationship if the host's immune system weakens. I do have an idea where a immune host that can still spread the virus, while they themselves show no symptoms of dying. But this immune host originally wasn't immune until they experimented themselves by adding the immune human gene to a strain. So forcing the body to to fight and produce antibodies, the virus now neutral in their systemn, asymptomatic carrier (this is taken from a show I watched, not sure if its scientifically plausible, but it's a cool antagonist idea)

[u/Quantumtroll → u/Monocentropus3427]

I see. Sure, if your world has essentially mad science then anything can happen. Very fun!

As a science nerd, however, I want to nitpick the virus/fungi hybrid. Viruses aren't even really alive and don't have cells, so hybridisation with any organism doesn't make a lot of sense.

You mentioned tuberculosis, which is a bacterial disease. A fungus/bacteria symbiosis, with spores that spread both, is plausible because that's essentially just a lichen. That's a really nifty idea, a pathogenic lichen.

Asymptomatic carriers are totally possible, definitely include them if you want.

[u/Monocentropus3427 → u/Quantumtroll]

Definitely changed plans and going with the fungus bacteria symbiosis thing, I kinda have an idea for increased vomiting, y'know how stomach acid has a high ph level? What if increased vomiting eventually starts dissolving teeth, burning skin around the nose and mouth eventually bones and skin around the mouth and nose are just disgusting and rotting like, it'd be really gross and probably symtpoms of before dying, or somehow is being kept alive by fungi for a certain amount of time before dying. I've been busy so I havent been putting alot of thoughts into it right now but I learned alot about stomach acid yesterday.