hybrid RSV/Flu virus

[url]https://www.sciencealert.com/new-hybrid-virus-discovered-as-flu-and-rsv-fuse-into-single-pathogen[/url] or https://www.sciencealert.com/new-hybrid-virus-discovered-as-flu-and-rsv-fuse-into-single-pathogen ; 

Researchers have witnessed two viruses – influenza A and respiratory syncytial virus – fuse together to form a single, hybrid virus.

While competition between viruses has been researched in some detail, this new finding provides researchers with an unusual example of one virus coopting another for its own benefits.

"This kind of hybrid virus has never been described before," virologist and senior author Pablo Murcia told The Guardian. "We are talking about viruses from two completely different families combining together with the genomes and the external proteins of both viruses. It is a new type of virus pathogen."

The hybrid virus looks like a gecko's foot under the microscope, with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) forming the legs and influenza A virus forming the toes.

It was discovered during a lab-based experiment designed to analyze interactions between viruses during infection to better understand clinical outcomes, pathogen behavior, and transmission.

DJ...so another lab-made high risk virus....It may good to learn virusses may be able to "recombine" this way...But is such high risk study wise ? Discussion on that may never end...