The Influence Of Viruses

Villarreal, Luis P. “Are Viruses Alive?” Scientific American, December 2004. 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

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.

Some examples of the sicknesses that bacteria cause are; * Impetigo * Meningitis * Tuberculosis * UTI (urinary tract infections) * Conjunctivitis * Gastroenteritis A virus is a capsule containing genetic material, even smaller than bacteria. The main task of virus is to reproduce. However, viruses need a suitable host to

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

Abstract Nipah virus, Arena Virus and Francisella tularensis are bioterrorism agents. They work in various ways to harm the host. Francisella tularenis is considered a Tier 1 bioterrorism agent and Nipah virus is an overlap select agent that affects humans and agriculture both. They have been harmful in the past. Though, Nipah virus is a newer virus than the other two. This review will focus on their emergence, pathogenicity and symptoms of the diseases they cause.

virus, bacteria, or parasite that has ever existed on this planet, we have the very real possibility of

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.

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.

There Is another view that contends viruses as living entities. In 2009 David Moreira & Purificacion Lopez Garcia wrote an entry about the reasons why viruses should not be inducted into the tree of life. The main support of their claim is that viruses do not meet the criteria that defines life. Viruses have the same molecular composition as cells: mainly nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and complex sugars() . In the past this similarity has led scientists to believe that viruses were alive. For many years’ viruses were thought to be the “missing link” (Moreira & Lopez) between the “non-living and the first cells” (Moreira & Lopez). With the discovery of DNA encoding came a theory and definition for what defines life. The theory was based on the fact that all living entities have DNA and evolve. Under these criteria viruses were considered to be living because we know they contain DNA and there has been considerable research showing the ancestral lineage of viruses. This theory survived for many years as the most widely accepted way to describe life. This theory was put to rest in the year 2000 when the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses officially concluded that viruses are not alive. This view is still held by many scientists

There is still a great deal of information to learn from the study of viruses and the continued exploration of the viral genome is crucial in understanding how viruses communicate, transmit from host to host and evade immune responses. The ever-change nature of the viral genome has shown us that the most dangerous viral infections of today may be undermined by newer and more effective viruses, resulting in catastrophic outcomes. Through the study of viruses, it is the hope of the scientific community to be ahead of the viral curve, preventing infections before they even

Since viruses were first discovered in 1892, there has been an ongoing debate of whether or not a virus can be classified as living organisms. A virus is composed of two simple components: a genome and a protein coat to protect this genome, and they are known to infect living host cells to replicate. From this definition, it does not define either the possibility of whether or not that a virus is alive. It gives the structure and function of the virus, but not the general rules that are needed to be met when an organism is considered alive. Some scientists believe that the discovery of the mimivirus prompts that all viruses are alive. Others claim that the mimivirus is an anomaly and does not relate to the general aspects of viruses. Viruses

Virus An invisible organism enters your body. It penetrates into your tissues and then takes over the machinery in your own cells to make more copies of itself. This tiny infiltrator works silently, producing thousands of these clones that fill up the cell and cause it to explode. The clones mercilessly continue the process of invading, taking over and destroying cells. The result might be a minor inconvenience to you as the host, or it could result in a slow or rapid death. It depends only on which variant of this unwanted infiltrator overcomes your body’s defenses. There are cures to wipe out some types of these invisible intruders, but others are so difficult to eradicate or so readily adaptable, that the world’s greatest scientists

According to a recent article called “Ocean Viruses may have an Impact on Earth’s Climate” by Jessica McDonald, viruses that affect ocean microbes can represent a enormous impact on climate changing. Researchers proved this new understanding considering that the pathogens block the trade of energy of ocean bacteria with carbon

INTRODUCTION Two of the common known attacks on computing systems are the deployment of computer viruses and malware.

2.2 steal other sensitive data by computer virus Viruses are generally often to steal information from computers that are infected. Most aren't successful. Either way, Viruses set out to harm your computer and it can also be a way for a computer virus to steal credit card numbers, passwords or account numbers and other sensitive data.