Descolada

The Descolada is a fictional virus in the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card. It is a quasi-conscious self-modifying organism capable of infecting any form of life. The Descolada is first mentioned in Speaker for the Dead, and plays a leading role in the later book Xenocide. Additionally, in Children of the Mind, the Lusitanians with the aid of Jane, make their way to the home world of the descolada. The plot of the book slowly reveals that the creators of the descolada (known as descoladores) may be intelligent life forms, sending out the virus as a means of communication and possibly slavery or just colonization/terraforming. The intent of the descolada is not discovered, however, as Orson Scott Card ends the book before any true or meaningful contact can be made with them.

"Descolada" is also the Portuguese word for "unglued". In the context of the book, this refers to the Descolada virus's effects; it breaks the link of the DNA double helix (ungluing it) and induces mutations.