You can definitely see it for what it is - exactly as you described. I find the characters very compelling all the way, so everything they do seems to come from a personal motivation - not based on a social pressures...

While my husband doesn't like Helen as a person, he thinks she is a necessary character. But I like her a lot - I think she embodies hardened person that I can identify with. People tend to read too much into the story from a socio-political lens, and it might not be true, but it's still interesting (they bring good arguments).

I like the theory that the virus is an interstellar weapon designed to limit technological progress. Once a species reached the ability to receive signals, and manipulate biology they become too dangerous (look up "Dark Forest" hypothesis), and so there is a weapon that is designed to target that kind of civilization, and stop it from progressing any further.