Hello colleagues,
I am pleased to share with you a recent line of inquiry emerging from our work on natural-product therapeutics and ecological systems biology. In light of ongoing discussions surrounding COVID-19 interventions and the broader search for antiviral agents, I would like to introduce a conceptual framework that reconsiders soil not merely as a source of isolated drugs, but as an evolutionarily optimized biochemical environment.

Our recently published article, “Ivermectin and Beyond: Exploring Soil as a Biochemical Reservoir for COVID-19 Intervention,” proposes a new conceptual model for antiviral discovery: the Soil Hypothesis. Instead of viewing ivermectin and other soil-derived compounds as pharmacological accidents, we argue that soil ecosystems function as evolutionary biochemical engines. Within these highly interactive microbial communities, competition and co-evolution drive the generation of diverse secondary metabolites—some of which display antiviral or immunomodulatory potential.

By synthesizing data on ivermectin, rapamycin, cyclosporine, and teicoplanin, our analysis highlights molecular themes linking microbial ecology to antiviral activity. These soil-origin agents influence viral entry, replication, and host inflammatory signaling through mechanisms reflecting their ecological origins. Recognizing soil as a self-optimizing reservoir of antiviral chemistry invites a reframing of natural-product discovery and opens new pathways for identifying future antiviral candidates.

Understanding soil as an evolutionary engine for antiviral metabolites encourages a shift from molecule-focused screening to ecosystem-informed discovery. This perspective has implications not only for COVID-19 but for future pandemic preparedness. It highlights the value of microbial competition, metabolite networks, and ecological co-evolution as drivers of chemical diversity with therapeutic relevance. Such a framework fosters interdisciplinary collaboration across microbiology, ecology, and pharmacology.

The visual abstract summarizes the framework: soil microbiomes, through competitive ecological dynamics, produce structurally diverse bioactive metabolites capable of antiviral activity.

1. Can soil-mimicking co-culture systems enhance the discovery of novel antiviral metabolites?
2. How might ecological systems biology be integrated into natural-product screening pipelines?
3. What methods could best map soil microbial metabolite networks to identify unknown antiviral compounds?
4. Could ecological frameworks help reshape therapeutic discovery beyond COVID-19?

Thank you for taking the time to engage with this perspective. I warmly welcome feedback, collaboration inquiries, and insights from colleagues working in related fields.

The following text is off-topic; I just translated it from a book written in Persian, and I thought it was worth sharing and found it appropriate to include.

A prophet became ill. He said, "I will not cure myself until the one who made me sick cures me." God Almighty revealed to him: "I will not cure you unless you cure yourself, for the cure is from Me." 

Eat when you are hungry, drink when you are thirsty, urinate when you feel the urge to urinate, do not have intercourse with your wife except out of necessity, and sleep when you feel sleepy, for these are the foundations of righteousness.  Drinking medicine for the body is like soap (detergent powder) for clothes, which cleans it, but also makes it worn out. Do not treat anyone unless you know their illness. Do not skip dinner, even if it is three bites of bread and salt. Whoever skips dinner, a vein in his body dies and never comes back to life. Drink little water, because too much of it strengthens any disease, and avoid taking medicine as long as your body can tolerate it. As long as your body can bear the pain, avoid medicine, and when it cannot bear the pain, then take medicine. Reduce your food intake so that your illness will decrease. Overeating makes the body stink and prevents intelligence. Do not comb your hair while standing.

The Prophet of God says in a hadith: 
"There is a cure for every pain. So when the medicine reaches the pain, it will be cured by the permission of God Almighty." In Tibb al-Rida, it is narrated from Imam Thamin al-Hajj that he said: "God Almighty did not afflict the body with any disease except when He appointed a medicine for it by which it could be cured; and for every type of pain, there is a cure, a remedy, and a prescription."