First and foremost, a virus is defined as a particle composed of protein, nucleic acid, and sometimes, lipids, which can reproduce itself only by infecting live cells. The reason why viruses are questioned if they are living or nonliving is if they exhibit all the characteristics of life. One of the questionable characteristics regarding a virus is reproduction. Living organisms have the capability to reproduce on their own, sexually or assexually. However, viruses reproduce by infecting living cells, therefore being dependant on something. Another reason of why viruses are questioned as living or nonliving is their genetic code. Even though they have DNA and RNA inside a protein coat, they don't have a nucleus or ribosomes to copy their genes,
Viruses have been long considered to be a living organism. They have their own DNA which makes it a debatable issue of whether or not to categorize them as living. They require energy to replicate/ survive within a host cell and so they take control of various organelles including mitochondria. [1]
evolved from other forms of life. The origin of viruses is an easy thing to
The word virus comes from the Latin word, poison. A virus infects a cell and into it, inserts its DNA. The virus then multiplies inside the cell and when enough of the virus has been produced, the newly formed viruses will break out into the body of the host, destroying the cell in the process. Variola major and Variol...
Viruses are the simplest and tiniest of microbes, and are made up of proteins, nucleic acid, and lipids. The nucleic acids contain the genetic code that helps them grow and reproduce, but only once they find their way into a living organism. Viruses themselves are not considered living organisms because they don’t have cells, they don’t metabolize nutrients, produce and excrete wastes, and they can’t move around on their own. The remains of the nucleic acid then forms a covering, called the capsid. Once the capsid gets removed, viruses use the building materials of th...
Bacteria, viruses, and prions all have different types of structures. However, bacteria and viruses are more alike in the aspect of nucleic acid. Bacteria come in numerous shapes, but most bacteria are in the shape of a sphere (cocci). Their other shapes, or structure, are rods (bacilli), spirals (spirilla), and if they’re rigid then they are called spirochetes. Bacteria will normally come in a single cell form; however they can come in more than one, and they can also form chains. A bacterium doesn’t contain a nucleus because they are prokaryotes. On the other hand, it does have nucleic acid. The nucleic acid lies in the nucleoid plasmids. Bacterium doesn’t have membrane-bounded organelles and an outer cell wall. The outer cell wall is strengthened by peptidoglycan, which protects the bacteria from collapsing or bursting. Some bacteria have the means to move. The reason they’re able to move is because they have flagella. Flagellum is a long slender tail-like structure. Virus’s structure is less complex than the structure of bacterium. All viruses are composed of two parts: the outer capsid, and the inner core. The outer capsid is made of protein subunits, and the inner core contains the DNA. Also with virus structures comes the envelope. The envelope is part of the host’s plasma membrane...
...ving things carry viruses in their cells. Even fungi and bacteria and inhabited by viruses and are occasionally destroyed by them. A virus makes copies of itself in a cell until eventually the cell gets pigged with virus and pops and the viruses spill out of the broken cell. If enough cells are destroyed, such as they do in the case of Ebola, the host dies. A virus does not "want" to kill its host. That is not in the best interest of the virus, because then the virus may also die, unless it can jump fast enough out of the dying host into a new host.
...y do not have energy metabolism, they do not grow or produce waste products, and they don’t respond to stimuli. Although they replicate and produce more of one another, viruses can’t reproduce independently without invading a living cell. Because viruses don’t fulfill all of the characteristics of life, they are not living organisms.
Viruses can do many different things to a body, they can destroy, corrupt, and take over cells in the body. They can damage parts of the body or make your body destroy itself, viruses are dangerous but sometimes can be cured. Viruses do not have the enzymes needed to carry out life so they use other’s cells, called a host cell, to live and to perform their functions, such as reproduction. Viruses inject their genetic instructions into a cell causing the cell to create viruses materials, which become new viruses, and usually break the side of the cell destroying it. The viruses can cause parts of the brain to react and activate, causing behavioral changes. For example a disease called Toxoplasmosis can alter rat behavior, while it affects humans in a different way than rats, its an example of what viruses can do. The virus switches the triggers that causes neuronal reactions for fear and arousal, so that what causes fear actually cuses arousal. This is so that the rat gets eaten by a cat and a parasite (which injects the virus) inside the rat can reproduce in a cat. A virus doesn’t simply just head to the brain to cause these things, as there is a “shield” around the brain that protects it from everything. This “shield” is called the Blood Brain Barrier, the BBB, which molecul...
The known cause of this disease is bacterial though there are 5 main forms of Meningococcal some of which are both viral and bacterial. Bacteria and Viruses are very different. Bacteria can survive without a host while a virus needs a cell to survive. Most viruses cause diseases and target specific cells or bacteria. Unlike a virus only 1% of Bacteria actually cause diseases.
We are there food. Those germs of the past that best converted our bodies into their own propagation are the germs of the present. Those germs of the present that best convert our bodies into their own propagation will be the germs of the future. Why should we care about the prospects of one particular germ over another? Aren't they all just plain bad? The answer is no. We can never get rid of them all. Their future is our future. If their future goes one way, we will be relatively healthy; if it goes another, we will be sick or even dead. Neglect of the germ's-eye view of the world is not restricted to the average person; it extends to medicine as a whole for most of its history (Ewald 9). Scientists have proven that some viruses are to blame for certain diseases not the genes that have been inherited.
... of bacterial dna buy viruses. When they invade the bcacterial cell they make use of the bacterial protein machinery to produce virions. During process packaging where genetic material is packed into the newly formed virus, bits of bact dna are also included. The new virions carry bact dna into the next cell they infect
Virus- An infectious agent found in virtually all life forms, including humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Viruses touch us every day through water, food, physical contact, blood, animals, or even, the air you breathe. Although most are harmless, there are some that are not.... ...
them and how the virus itself adapts to meet the ever changing conditions of a
Poliovirus is an enterovirus, which is a genus of positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Positive-sense single-stranded
Living things are what makes up the world. There are five characteristic that are common in all living things. All living things are made up of cells. Cells are the smallest units of matter that are capable of life. There are many different kind of cells in all living organisms. There are unicellular cells which are single cell organisms most are microscopic. Some examples would be prokaryotes (bacteria). Most of the organisms that are multicellular can be visibly seen. People, animals and trees are made up of more than one cell. Another characteristic is growth and development. This involves food or energy to produce new cells. As an organism grows and goes through a cycle. A single cell starts and then divides over and over again