Novel corona survives through the ‘weak’, sparing the ‘fittest’, is it a pathogen? An evolutionary perspective

Man is yet another animal in the biome.   Man fought with his habitat, destroyed the structure and functions of the nature, caused imbalance to the ecological niche, destroyed the food chain and food web and finally took the position over nature as top predator.

On the contrary, our ancestors – the hunter-gatherers tirelessly fought various adversities, many died and a few survived just to fuse their sperm and ova so that the so called modern man can conquer the nature. 

From the pre-historic times or time immemorial, all life forms have followed only the law of Charles Darwin, called survival of the fittest.  Should we define the law of survival of the fittest from the perspective of life in toto in the biome or should we allow our narrow walls of medical science or emotion is a million dollar question. 

The unique flora and fauna in Galapagos Island and Darwin’s explanation for the above suggests that the novel Corona may allowing the fittest to survive by choosing the weakest. 

The fear is that it can be you or me or my close family members or yours, the weakest and the soft target of novel corona.  How much ever strictness we follow to impose lockdown for 21 days or more or for an indefinite period of time, the chance of novel corona visiting every one of us if not today, definitely tomorrow, looks certain.  The question of our survival is left to the law of nature, survival of the fittest. 

Another important dimension of novel corona is quite puzzling and curious.  No deadly pathogen can spread fast because as soon as such pathogen enters its host, it would immobilize them medically and hence the patient would go for self-quarantine or move away from the crowd, seek treatment, we call sickness.  That would limit its spread if the pathogen prefers horizontal transmission through direct contact.  If it chooses water, like Cholera or Typhoid, we can contain easily such pathogens and if it is by a vector like mosquito, again adequate measures can be followed to prevent the spread of the pathogen by some means or other.  

It means, in general, the evolutionary tenet would always favour only the least pathogenic one or otherwise called as opportunistic pathogens to spread easily among its host and not the deadly one.

 

Look at the scenario of the presence of deer and other herbivores in most forest ecosystem; they are roaming around freely and fearlessly even in some IIT campuses located in the heart of prominent metropolitan cities like Chennai, Mumbai etc., but not leopard or tiger. 

Why novel corona rapidly undergoes rapid mutation?  Look at the behaviour of a deer, monkey or cat or dog.  They pickup and learn some of the human traits fast to enhance their survival than to deal the human species or harm them.   

From the evolutionary perspective, the rapid mutation of novel corona suggests only about its harmlessness or less dangerous attitude and not its deadly preposition.  Another indicator also we must draw from the above scenario of corona virus rapidly undergoes mutation in Indian context than anywhere else.  India is not its favourable habitat and hence it modify fast, in all probability, to survive than to harm.  

Then another question that comes up to our mind is why several Europeans and people in US are dying due to corona.  Instead of answering the question straight, we should ask ‘who’ are the primary or principal target of novel corona? 

The corona seems to target the elderly people the most and male members over female gender.   How would have novel corona reached the elderly people who are relatively less mobile, sedentary and less active?  Naturally it would have reached them only through a definite, relatively younger population who mediate between the virus and the elderly person.  Why the novel corona has spared the younger ones who would have brokered between the virus and the elderly people and targets only the older folk? 

If we analyse the above scenario through the prism of evolutionary science, one thing appears clear to us.  Novel corona follows the Darwin’s law of survival of the fittest in targeting its victim.  Further women are the real future reservoir of any species in the biome.  Therefore it may be targeting women the least than men.  Corona does not have the ability to assess the age of women and hence may be excluding women in general from its target list; only such explanation is possible from the realm of evolution.

The novel corona phenomenon, it looks like our science has muddled a bit with molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, genetics, medicine etc.  Have we applied the simple evolutionary tenets or postulates or the teachings of Charles Darwin to understand what is happening with corona at the ground zero? 

The purpose of the article is not to intervene into the measures taken by any government to prevent the spread of novel corona and save human life.  The present endeavour is purely an academic thinking/brainstorming and it is not meant to propose or postulate anything against the measures taken to contain corona.

The larger or possibly, the last question is, can we remain free from corona?  Saying someone whether you would not die of corona may be easier than to say, corona will not visit you at all in this life time. 

In India, we have seen two kinds of scenarios.  One, those who died of corona (mostly) was suffering from strong co-morbidities such as acute liver cirrhosis, acute renal impairment, asthma and old age.  Besides that chronic smoking, alcoholism, compromised immunity etc., also may be supporting corona death positively.  

The question of viremia versus infection versus resultant death of some patients points at another evolutionary possibility happening at ground zero 

Is a huge load of virus necessary to cause death?  If so, such load of virus whether one receives directly from an already infected person or the viral load happens after its entry into a new host.  If the virus is deadly how a person with high viremia can infect others by active means as they would have be bedridden?  Therefore the first possibility looks quite limited. 

It means, the virus multiplies fast in some host soon after it enters and once the viremia touches a critical level, death occurs.  Then why it spares some hosts and affects only the elderly population?  It means, the host system of elderly may be favouring the multiplication of the virus.  It means corona by itself is less harmful and only when they strike us in large numbers, can harm us. 

To multiply to that extent, the host system alone may support the virus and not the selective smartness of the virus. From the evolutionary stands point, whom we should blame, the corona or the habitat that favours its multiplication?

Now we have immigrated back to the fundamental question?  Should we call corona a pathogen or a parasite from the evolutionary perspective? 

Viral load really matters or just the virus is enough to kill?  How do we fit the so called intelligent proposal of lock down of India for 21 days to prevent corona spread form the evolutionary angle of corona? 

While overweighing too much of medical science, are we not missing the basic science, evolutionary principles and Charles Darwin in understanding Corona infection?  Is the present confusion partly due to the entry of too much of medical science into politics & governance without basic science and wisdom of evolution and biology? 

Has the medical science and government taken over the responsibility of spiritual leaders, astrologers, mullahs and bishops to first spread fear and then bring God to solve it? What happens today is not news reporting of /corona but spewing fear among ordinary man to achieve social distancing.

Lock down the country and then say the harsh measure has been taken to save your life looks quite changeling.  Economy can wait, let us save human life first?  Are we not playing too much with emotion than using scientific temperament to deal the issue?

Emotion or economy or a middle path to save life and livelihood, it is not those in the ruling dispensation must think but those who elected them must think because the worst strike of economy has reached our doorstep much faster than Corona.