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#obelisks

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Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬

New forms of life discovered inside human bodies
They resemble what scientists call #viroids, which are infectious loops of #RNA known for their effects on plants. #Obelisks share certain traits with these plant pathogens, yet they appear in human-associated bacteria. Their discovery came about when researchers began analyzing massive #genetic libraries, searching for patterns that did not match any known organisms.
earth.com/news/scientists-find

Earth.comNew forms of life discovered inside human bodiesResearchers find obelisks, mysterious RNA molecules in human bacteria that challenge our understanding of viruses and microscopic life.
Public
Adrianna Tan

Wake up babe, new form of life just dropped

biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/20

bioRxiv · Viroid-like colonists of human microbiomesHere, we describe the “Obelisks,” a previously unrecognised class of viroid-like elements that we first identified in human gut metatranscriptomic data. “Obelisks” share several properties: (i) apparently circular RNA ∼1kb genome assemblies, (ii) predicted rod-like secondary structures encompassing the entire genome, and (iii) open reading frames coding for a novel protein superfamily, which we call the “Oblins”. We find that Obelisks form their own distinct phylogenetic group with no detectable sequence or structural similarity to known biological agents. Further, Obelisks are prevalent in tested human microbiome metatranscriptomes with representatives detected in ∼7% of analysed stool metatranscriptomes (29/440) and in ∼50% of analysed oral metatranscriptomes (17/32). Obelisk compositions appear to differ between the anatomic sites and are capable of persisting in individuals, with continued presence over >300 days observed in one case. Large scale searches identified 29,959 Obelisks (clustered at 90% nucleotide identity), with examples from all seven continents and in diverse ecological niches. From this search, a subset of Obelisks are identified to code for Obelisk-specific variants of the hammerhead type-III self-cleaving ribozyme. Lastly, we identified one case of a bacterial species ( Streptococcus sanguinis ) in which a subset of defined laboratory strains harboured a specific Obelisk RNA population. As such, Obelisks comprise a class of diverse RNAs that have colonised, and gone unnoticed in, human, and global microbiomes. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
#Science#Obelisks
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sohkamyung

The last stop of our tour of Italy: Rome, 21 Oct 2024. We started at the Piazza del Popolo, the historic centre of Rome. It features the 'twin' churches, the Basilica di Santa Maria in Montesanto (Church of the Artists) [left] and the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli [right], the Museo Leonardo da Vinci with the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo behind it, and an Egyptian obelisk in the centre of the square.

Two churches with high domes placed side by side, separated by a street.
A blockish building housing the museum beside a church with a high front, with a large circular window in the middle of the church.
An Egyptian obelisk with hieroglyphics on it in the middle of the square.
#Photography#Rome#Italy
Public
Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬

'#Obelisks': Entirely New Class of Life Has Been Found in The Human Digestive System
#Stanford biologist #IvanZheludev and colleagues argue their strange discovery may not be viruses, but instead an entirely new group of entities that may help bridge the ancient gap between the simplest #genetic molecules and more complex #viruses. "Obelisks comprise a class of diverse #RNA that have colonized, and gone unnoticed in, human, and global #microbiomes."
sciencealert.com/obelisks-enti

ScienceAlert · 'Obelisks': Entirely New Class of Life Has Been Found in The Human Digestive SystemPeering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across what seem to be an entire new class of virus-like objects.
Continued thread
Public
JQ Jacobs

#StandingStoneSunday #Stelae #Obelisks
#Panoramio #PhotoShare Richard Lozin web.archive.org/web/2016101801
#Geolocation 14.132, 38.7194 #Axum #Ethiopia #Archaeology
Copied the #Panoramio number when saving the photo, searched the #WayBackMachine for panoramio.com/photo/49503411. Same URL for every Panoramio photo, just change the numbers to match other photos. The 2016 cache was just before Google closed down Panoramio.com. Massive #geolocated #archaeology photo base.

Axum Obelisks
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