THE MAIL

 Fascinated to see whether AI another search engine would come up with the same answers provided on Ecosia, when making enquiries about virology and viruses, I gave DuckDuckGo a try. GPT-4o mini Answered QUESTION I have searched for experiments of isolation and have found none, because viruses cannot be isolated, even though bacteria and other microorganisms can be isolated, viruses are always said to be isolated when in fact they are not. Don't you think that means that viruses are not isolated, therefore cannot be said to exist as a separate entity? ANSWER The concept of isolating viruses can be complex and is often misunderstood. In microbiology, "isolation" typically refers to the process of obtaining a pure culture of a microorganism . For bacteria and fungi, this is often done using culture media that allow these organisms to grow and be studied. Viruses, however, are fundamentally different from bacteria and other microorganisms. They cannot replicate on t...

  I asked the Ecosia AI chatbot the following question about viruses. I have searched for experiments of isolation and have found none, because viruses cannot be isolated, even though bacteria and other microorganisms can be isolated, viruses are always said to be isolated when in fact they are not. Don't you think that means that viruses are not isolated, therefore cannot be said to exist as a separate entity? Chatbot replies: The concept of virus isolation can be complex due to the unique nature of viruses. Unlike bacteria and other microorganisms, viruses cannot replicate independently and require a host cell for propagation. When scientists refer to the "isolation" of a virus, they mean obtaining a sample of the virus that can be studied, typically through growth in cell cultures. In virology, isolation does not imply that the virus exists in a free, independent state like bacteria . Instead, it indicates that researchers can obtain a sample of the virus that can be...