Scientists have discovered a "crazy" new life form hiding inside human bodies

Scientists have found completely new virus-like entities called "obelisks" hiding in human bodies. The "crazy" new life form is a circular fragment of genetic material that contains one or two genes and self-organizes into a rod-like shape.

Half the world's population has obelisks, but they were only discovered when researchers looked for patterns that did not match any known organism in genetic libraries. These creatures colonize bacteria inside the human mouth and intestines and live there for about a year. However, it is not known how they spread, DailyMail writes.

According to scientists, the obelisks have genomes of RNA loops that resemble viroids, which are viruses that infect plants. Experts are surprised to find them in human-related bacteria.

"The more we look, the more crazy things we see," said cell and developmental biologist Mark Peifer, who was not involved in the study.

It's not yet clear whether these obelisks are harmful or useful, but the research team suggested that they may "exist as stealthy evolutionary passengers."

Scientists also suggest that these tiny primitive creatures may have played a crucial role in shaping the biodiversity that exists on Earth today, as they could have infected organisms of many different species throughout their evolution.

Experts are not yet sure whether these newly discovered life forms can cause disease in humans, but there is one type of viroid that can: hepatitis D.

According to experts, obelisks, viroids, and viruses are technically non-living organisms the survival of which depends on the host. They do not eat or regenerate.

The research team, led by Stanford University biochemist Ivan Zheludev, discovered the obelisks by looking at data from an RNA database containing thousands of sequences collected from human mouths, intestines, and other sources.

The scientists analyzed this data to find single-stranded circular RNA molecules that do not match any known viroid sequence and do not encode proteins, and discovered 30,000 different types of obelisks.

Their genomes have not previously attracted the attention of experts because they are very unlike any other life form. Still, these findings indicate that obelisks are not rare at all. The researchers found that half of the world's population carries obelisks in their mouths, and seven percent in their guts.

Researchers believe that these creatures colonize bacterial cells to reproduce, much like a virus infects a host and then multiplies inside it.

At this time, scientists can only guess at the evolutionary and ecological role of obelisks.

Experts say that if future research shows that obelisks have a significant impact on the health or functionality of the human microbiome, it will be an important discovery.

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