Argument Against Viruses

We hear how Henrietta’s cells helped learn and find cures about so many viruses, but what is a virus? A virus is a microscopic organism that only replicates within the cells of a host organism. One of the most well known viruses Henrietta’s cells helped us with was the polio virus. Polio virus is a viral infection of your central nervous system. Polio virus is a lytic virus meaning that, polio goes through reproduction and the cells bursts. Polio virus’s most extensive outbreak was in the early to mid-1990s. Thankfully the vaccine was released in 1995.

When we hear the word virus, we usually think of something that makes us sick. A virus is an ultramicroscopic infectious organism that, having no independent metabolic activity, can replicate only within a cell of another host organism. A virus consists of a core of nucleic acid, either RNA or DNA, surrounded by a coating of antigenic protein and sometimes a lipid layer surrounds it as well. The viral genome provides the genetic code for replication, and the host cell provides the necessary energy and raw materials. To fight viruses, we use vaccines. While some may infect a broad range, other viruses can only infect certain kinds of cells. Vaccines are made of inactive, dead or weakened virus cells or protein antigens that can no longer infect

The article first addresses the issue of whether or not to consider viruses as living. Although viruses used to be thought of as being biological chemicals due to the fact that they consist of nucleic acids

It is often argued whether viruses are living or not. Those who don’t believe that viruses are living generally base their opinion off of the fact that they do not follow the basic definition of “life”. They do not carry out life-sustaining functions on their own like normal organisms. On the other side of the argument, some believe that viruses are in fact, living beings, which is where I rest my opinion.

A virus is a small capsule that contains DNA or RNA, viruses, unlike bacteria are not self sufficient and need a host in

Where it is still unclear the origins of viruses, one thing is clear, they are a very important part of the horizontal gene transfer, which drastically increases genetic diversity.

CDC reports released earlier this year revealed that only 40% of the American population was vaccinated against the Influenza Virus (IFV), last year. The vaccines are expected to reduce need for treatment from healthcare providers by 60% and yet the majority of the population remains vulnerable to this rapidly, mutating virus. (Brandenburg et al., 2013)

Viruses that maintain their genomes as several distinct RNA molecules are referred to as segmented RNA viruses. They are ubiquitous and infect a wide variety of animals, plants and bacteria. A shared feature of segmented viruses is their ability to exchange genome segments in toto during co-infection through a process called reassortment. When two or more viruses or virus strains infect the same cell, they can accidentally package each other’s genomic segments during replication into a nascent virion-producing hybrid progeny. Reassortment hence creates virions that contain a random amount of genome segments from each of the parent virions. http://www.nature.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/nrmicro/journal/v14/n7/full/nrmicro.2016.46.html.

How do you think viruses are bad? Viruses is deadly to humans. Ebola is one of these deadly viruses. Ebola first came from Ebola River which is in Africa. According to the text, “the reason why Ebola is deadly is because if people catch it then they can get fevers, muscle aches, weakness , sore throat, and headaches.” This statement implies that Ebola can be deadly. The text also stated, ”that these symptoms can be followed by bleeding in the internal organs and outside openings of their body.” This statement suggests that Ebola can kill humans. Ebola is not the only deadly viruses out there. There are many viruses out there that is very deadly, perhaps even more deadly then the Ebola virus. One example of these deadly viruses is the Marburg

Living in an environment where we are prone to many viruses, it’s very important that one take the proper precautions or considerations to control the risk of getting affected. However, when utilizing the ability of not becoming infected, one may question the fact weather there’s an actual effective form of prevention or not. To clarify the uncertainty, over many years one of the most strategic methods that have been used for the control and preventions of viruses are vaccinations. A vaccination takes advantage of one’s body natural ability to primarily learn how to eliminate almost any disease causing germ or microbe that affects it. Therefore vaccinations are considered one of the most effective ways to prevent

In the article, Carl Zimmer makes some really good points. Most people don’t think about fighting viruses with DNA. I surely wouldn’t. Zimmer’s explanation of it was “[It is] microscopic protein shell holding a few genes that hijack a cell’s internal machinery, forcing it to make new viruses.” Zimmer refers to the viruses in our bodies as aliens, which I think is really neat. “We use DNA from viruses to do things that are essential to our own survival, scientist are finding.” DNA from viruses are used to make vaccines and help the human race as a whole. Also, our immune system is created by having parts of that DNA from the virus in our system. According to the article, a lot of these viruses get passed down from generation to generation and

The antagonist of this story is unlike the villains we know. In fact, they can’t even be seen with the naked eye. They are viruses. Viruses are non-cellular genetic elements that hijack a host cell in order to use their molecular machinery to reproduce and cause infection. Therefore, by definition, viruses cause a reduction in the fitness of their host. Because viruses harm their host, natural selection favors host genes that make them resistant to viruses. Consequently, this places a selection pressure on the virus to overcome the hosts’ resistance. Simultaneous mutations between the two species enters them into an evolutionary arms race, with the host developing resistance in order to overcome the virus and the virus developing new ways to overcome this resistance – typically though mutation – in order to persist and reproduce. This cycle is known as antagonistic coevolution.

My claim is that viruses are not living things. First of all, they do not match all six characteristics of life, which explain that living things are ‘made of cells, they reproduce with DNA, grow and develop, use energy, respond, and evolve.’

Viruses can have either DNA or RNA and it can be Double Stranded and single stranded for viruses. The function of a virus is to replicate itself or reproduce ; Ex; Hepatitis A has RNA and Hepatitis B has DNA as genetic material. Viral Capsids are protein shell made out of protein shell made out of proteins.

This little package of mayhem consists of relatively few parts. A virus is simply a protein capsule called a capsid, sometimes surrounded by an envelope, containing a genome. The genome consists of nucleic acids arranged as DNA or less commonly, RNA. Dozens of variants of this fundamental arrangement exist with differences in the structure of the capsule and the arrangement of the genome. Small differences or changes in these components allow some viruses to continue to outmaneuver researchers, while millions of dollars are spent trying to understand and eliminate them.