One of the most complex and unexplored disease causing agents are viruses. They are known to be able to infect a wide array of organisms, from plants and animals, to bacteria and fungi. Essentially, anything that is living is capable of being infected with a virus. Once the host's cell is infected, the viruses' goal is to produce more viruses which will infect neighboring cells to continue the cycle.
Scientists are now researching viral swarms to help us better understand the swarms' importance and relationship to these viruses. Swarms are what enable viruses to travel from one region of an organism, like the gut, to another, like the brain. Vignuzzi, a virologist, began researching Polio swarms. at first, but soon changed his focus towards Chickungunya, an emerging virus within the Americas. Vignuzzi discovered that mutations in viruses cause diversity, and diversity enables for better adaptation. However, there must be a balance, as too many mutations will ultimately lead to the viruses' death. He came to the conclusion that
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With this single mutation, the Chickungunya virus codes for a protein which helps it enter the mosquitoes cells via a receptor protein. This simple, yet fascinating mutation allows for the virus to transfer from species to species as it changes the virus' surface proteins.
Vignuzzi's began by taking the original Chickungunya strain that circulated in Kenya and infected multiple Asian tiger mosquitoes with the virus in a lab. Within a few weeks, Vignuzzi found two new mutants of the Chickungunya virus, which is fascinating considering the time they have spent working with this virus. This discovery may possibly lead to the future outlook of this virus, which would be beneficial to society.
With the continuous research of these swarms we will better understand the relationship these viruses share with their
The mutation of existing viruses, the spread of existing viruses from one host species to another, and the dissemination of a viral disease from a small, isolated population that can lead to widespread epidemics.
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.
Viruses, Plagues, and History, written by Michael Oldstone, is an insightful and highly educational book that details the history of, that’s right, viruses and plagues. Through typically dry, yet engaging prose, Oldstone recounts what seems like all of it while simultaneously bringing to light the contributions of those brave scientists who asked themselves, “why.” He focuses his attention on some of the most notable viruses such as smallpox, yellow fever, measles, polio, and later he focuses on more contemporary battles against disease.
A virus is a small nucleic acid molecule that can only multiply within a living cell of the actual host. It can produce a copy of that specific virus at an alarming rate. They are becoming more dangerous today. We need to build a better knowledge base to educate healthcare professionals and parents that bacteria and viruses are two different animals. Giving an antibiotic for a virus is not going to help; it will eventually cause antibiotic resistance. With viruses, the symptoms just need to be managed with over the counter medication, rest, and letting it run its course.
Introduction: Over time we come to realize a lot of things we have to live life with right under our nose and right at our door step. one of the worst and on going things we have to deal with are Viruses. there are a wide range of different types of viruses, from ones that can kill you ,to ones that we don't even know we have, some are contagious , and some are not, and also the dreaded air borne viruses. One virus that is not commonly mentioned is Valley Fever.
Yamaguchi…,1998). There are a few other viruses compared but the CPV and FPLV have the most similarities.
The West Nile Virus was first heard of when it was discovered in 1937 in the West Nile district of Uganda, but was first discovered in North America in 1999. It is believed that the West Nile Virus is caused by the bite of a mosquito that is infected. The mosquitoes become carriers of the disease when they feed on infected birds. The disease can also be transmitted to other animals. In a very small number instances, the virus has been reported to be spread by blood and body fluid contact in cases such as blood transfusions and pregnant mothers to baby transmission during delivery and breastfeeding. The virus starts when a virus infected mosquito bites a bird, it sticks it mouth into the animals skin. As the mosquito bites, it drinks fluid from the bird’s insides and it squirts saliva into the wound. The West Nile is transmitted through the saliva. The virus inside the bird starts when it invades cells in the bird’s skin. The saliva usually attacks the immune system cells which are cells that are supposed to defend the animal from diseases. Virus-laden immune cells then crawl into the lymph nodes, where they release their passengers, leading to infection in the immune cells. The
WNV can result in intricate infection. WNV has spread as a cyclic plague into North America. WNV signifies a mosquito-borne virus which spread in birds. Mosquitoes are generally wandered in the space and usually bite humans and animals. Therefore, WNV can be spread straightforwardly and cause complex infections.
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.
“This viral vector engineered by my former supervisor, Dr. Rod Stinguard, will indeed seal his personal legacy,” Surina continued. “Overnight, he has propelled his name to the top of the list of contenders for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Using his formidable connections with the World Governing Body, Stinguard readily gained their approval to distribute the viral vector globally. However, since they only tested twenty healthy subjects with a short follow-up, they could have missed the possibility of mutations on a statistical basis. For this reason, they are phasing in the launch starting in Africa and later in other countries. Stinguard rushed this viral vector’s development, and it is far from being ready for distribution. I always
The protective capsid helps the virus escape detection and destruction during the invasion of the host. When the virus reaches the target cell, biochemical reactions between the capsid and cell wall allow the virus to latch on and inject its genome into the cell’s interior. Once inside, the viral genetic material insinuates itself into the host’s DNA or RNA. In an efficient feat of natural bioengineering, the host cell’s genetic machinery now does the rest of the work for the virus. The cell, which had already been making copies of its own genome, now also replicates that of the virus. Coded within the viral material is the blueprint for making more copies of the viral genome. Further instructions command the production of capsids and directions for assembly of new viruses. After the host cell becomes engorged with viruses, it explodes, sending the new
Epidemiologists have divided the process of viral infection into three parts on something known as an Epidemiologic Triangle. This triangle has vertices which are named Host, Agent, and Environment and I personally believe that the host is the most important side of the Epidemiologic Triangle.
Well a characteristic of a living thing is that they can reproduce. Reproducing is in essence creating more of you or creating organism that mimic or genetic coding. Viruses can reproduce both sexually and asexually. If a virus reproduces sexually it takes to cells to create another; however, asexually takes only one cell to create more it does this by splitting itself apart which can be compared to mitosis (a type of cell division in which two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus). Since living things can reproduce and their is no set type of reproduction identifying living things a virus in this instance is
Viruses directly trade genetic information with living organisms which, “is within the web of life itself.” (Villarreal, 2004) Viruses have formed many ways to avoid being detected by its host immune system. Steps in the immune process can be altered and even controlled by the virus genes found in the virus. If viruses couldn’t adapt to what they are affecting, then how getting one single virus could, multiply up to 100 trillion times in just a few
In the article “Are Viruses Alive?,” Luis P. Villarreal discusses the effects of viruses on life, while presenting different angles as to whether or not they are alive themselves and arguing about the impact viruses have had on evolution. Through a deeper understanding of viruses and their functions, the scientific community may come to fully appreciate viruses, whether they are living or non-living in themselves, as significant evolutionary components.