Mimivirus

A Mimivirus is a newly discovered species of viruses that have Amoeba as their main hosts.

A mimivirus is much larger and much more complex than a “normal” virus with a much larger genome. They may be single or double-stranded and may possess an envelope.

First discovered in 1992 during a pneumonia outbreak where scientists found that the viruses causing it where very similar to gram-positive bacteria initially thinking they have discovered a new strand of pneumonia-causing bacteria

Named mimivirus which is short for “mimicking microbe” it was finally identified as a virus in 2003.

After Infection the virus replication factory is distinguishable after 1-3 hours and it continues to grow up to 12 hours.

This discovery may shed light on the dilemma of whether or not viruses should be considered alive.