Viruses: A Personal Analysis

Think of a virus. You cannot see it; however, viruses are everywhere. They live inside of humans and have to have humans to survive. Viruses spread because they come in contact with other cells of other human beings. Viruses are not easily treated. There are vaccines that help to prevent viruses, but they are not perfect. They have antiviral drugs that help to stop the virus from reproducing, but then it is up to the immune system to remove the virus. There is only one true way to remove all viruses from the world and that is by removing all living things.

By definition a virus is a “microscopic organism that can replicate... inside the cells of a host organism” (Hogan, 2012). Believe it or not, sixty percent of scientific research supports the argument that viruses are not living. Forty percent of research states and supports the idea that viruses are living organisms.

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

Virus Thirteen is the debut novel from writer Joshua Alan Parry and depicts a not too distant America in which cancer has a cure and public health is at the forefront of government interest. I know....pure science fiction. The book follows several different characters (James, Modest and Marnoy just to name a few) as a terrifying new super flu virus breaks out causing global panic and hysteria. That description does not really do the book justice because it is much more than a book about the “end of the world”.

The American Red Cross performed numerous amounts of tests for infectious diseases on donated blood. Their tests included West Nile virus (WNV), Human Immunodeficiency viruses Types 1 and 2 (HIV 1,2), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), Syphilis (Treponema pallidum), Human T-Lymphotropic virus (HTLV I/II), and Chagas disease (T. cruzi). Two infectious agents that should be tested further are herpes simplex virus and ebola. These two viruses should be tested because both viruses caused a huge outbreak and there is no effective cure against the virus. Also the herpes virus is lifelong in individuals while ebola can kill individuals within a matter of days.

Viruses are not entirely alive for the reason they can’t reproduce on their own. A virus is independent of a host and it’s considered a obligated parasite, whose structure is consist of nucleic acid that’s surrounded by a coat of protein called a capsid. Viruses have evolved over time, about 10 million years ago, and they still have been evolution over time from prokaryote cells or eukaryotic

Biologist have generally agreed that being able to reproduce, react to external stimuli, produce metabolism, adapt and is made of up 1 or more cells are the characteristics of a living organism. Viruses are alive, because they accomplish tasks that non-living things can’t. As well as they share many qualities with living organisms, even making their own category of life.

Viruses are not usually considered living things because they lack characteristics of living things. Viruses are biological particles composed of nucleic acid and a protein coat. Viruses are not alive and should not be considered a living organism. The reasons include that a virus cannot reproduce; they do not obtain energy, and technically cannot live without a host. Reproduction is one of the biggest essentials of life. Also if an organism cant obtain or make energy it also is classified as non-living. If a virus has no host then it has no ability to reproduce or to live. Furthermore a virus should not be considered a living organism because it lacks these traits.

I believe that viruses are not living. A virus is nothing more than the genetic material it carries and the protein or lipids its shell is made up of. It has nothing to help it function like organs for complex organisms or organelles for a cell. A cell needs organelles to perform tasks to help keep it living. It needs one to produce proteins, one to break down food, and so on. A virus needs none of that and that proves it is not alive. Living things need to be able to make energy out of something, whether it is sunlight or food, and viruses do not even have the bits and pieces that would allow them to do that. Another piece of evidence is that a virus does not have a cell membrane or its own way to digest/metabolize food. All living organisms

Do you know what’s going on inside your body? Do you know what happens when you get a viral infection? Everything you need to know can be explained in three phrases: mutation, protein synthesis, and DNA replication. When a virus disrupts any of these “processes” if you will, then it can be costly. This is an ongoing issue for today’s society because there is exposure to sun, chemicals, magnetic radiation, and other things that can cause viral infections, more than ever in fact.

I Am Legend, is a film about a virus that occurs from scientist’s creating a treatment to cure people with cancer, but their treatment then results into a catastrophe where people transform into vicious monsters called the “dark seekers.” Robert Neville, is the only survivor left in New York City, and is resistant to this

Who was he? His footsteps echoed through the hallway as he walked through the corridor. The lights in the unfinished basement were out. The sounds of beeping machines from upstairs were drowned out by the immense ringing in his ears. Exposure to poison will do that to you. He poured the vile out into the green plant by the door. A gray film covered the plant causing it to shrivel.

If possible I would like to attend and present some of the findings of cheery mycovirus project at APS-Pacific Division meeting (June 28 -30 @ La Conner, Washington). Here I have attached abstract for that for your review and approval.

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

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.