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clocks212 t1_izbtz5k wrote

Reply to comment by bruceleroy99 in Have living things always had an immune system? How did they survive / evolve to deal with diseases, and how does that compare to modern immune systems? by bruceleroy99

It’s unknown whether cellular life came before viruses or if cellular life evolved from viruses.

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mcr1974 t1_izc29sd wrote

but what would have viruses attacked?

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the_quark t1_izc59cy wrote

They might have started simply as self-replicating sets of chemicals in the early ocean. At this point though we've only been able to speculate about their (and life's) ultimate direct origin.

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