Huge viruses, dubbed Pandoraviruses, may be new life form

These viruses are so big they might just be your ancestors. Two newly discovered viruses are twice as large as the previous record-holders and may represent a completely new life form, French scientists reported .

They say in the US journal Science they were "extremely surprised" by the discovery of what they are calling "Pandoraviruses", which are not believed to be the type that make people sick.

Instead, what is most interesting about them is their giant-sized genome - from 1,900 to 2,500 genes - way more than viruses like influenza, which has 10. Humans, by comparison, have about 24,000.

The previous record for a virus was 1,200 genes, in the discovery of the Megavirus chilensis. Before that was the Mimivirus with around 1,000 genes, discovered by the same team of scientists a decade ago.

Viruses are typically not deemed to qualify as a form of life, but some scientists say these giant viruses merit consideration as a new kind of living object.

One, Pandoravirus salinus, was found on sediment off the coast of Las Cruces, Chile. The other, Pandoravirus dulcis, was found in the muck of a pond in Melbourne, Australia.