Viruses

Question 1

What does virus mean

Answer 1

It is Latin for poison

Question 2

What do viruses do?

Answer 2

1. Causes disease in plants and animals ex.) Bird flu
2. Infect bacterial cells
3. Help development of vaccines
4. help biotechnology especially in cloning and possibly in the treatment of cancer

Question 3

What is virus Structure

Answer 3

Protien coat= CAPSID
DNA or RNA for replication
Cannot reproduce without a host cell
unique shape/ design
Classified according to shape
They range from the smallest being 10nm to the largest of 400 nm

Question 4

What is Bacteriophage

Answer 4

• Bacteria “eating virus”
• Virus uses the bacteria as a host
• For viral reproduct

Question 5

What are some kinds of viruses?

Answer 5

Skin, plant, mouth, Chicken pox, polio, Rabies and Hepatitis B

Question 6

What is the Viral reproduction

Answer 6

Viruses reproduce by Replication NOT cell division
They use the HOST cell to make many copies of themselves
The host then puts them together inside the cell to make new viruses
When the host cell is destroyed the viruses are released

Question 7

What is Epidemic

Answer 7

It means affecting many people at the same time

Its extremely widespread

Question 8

What is Pandemic

Answer 8

It means prevaient through an entire country, continent or the whole world

Question 9

Prion

Answer 9

An infectious particle that causes damage to nerve cells in the brain that appears to consist mostly or entirely of single protein

• Prions are protiens found normally in the body
• They are known disease causing agents that lack RNA or DNA

Question 10

Explain Rabies

Answer 10

• If you get bit and do not do anything about it you will die
• Transmitted through saliva of a rabid animal
• Paralysis in mouth; strange or unusual behaviour
• 5 days to a few years before symptoms show
• you can get paralyzed then go into a coma , then death

Question 11

Explain Flu (influenza)

Answer 11

• Many flus originate in Asia , where it is densely populated and close to wildlife (cross contamination)
• Flue is one of the rare few that has its genome in separate segments (eight)
• This increases the potential for recombinants to form (by interchange of gene segments if different viruses infect the same cell) and may contribute to the rapid development of a new flu in nature

Question 12

Can antibiotics get rid of viruses

Answer 12

No antibiotics only kill bacteria however vaccines can prevent some viral infections

Question 13

What is the lytic cycle

Answer 13

1) Attachemt: the virus attaches itself to the cell
2) Entry: Then the virus injects the nucleic acid into the cell
3) Replications: the hosts metabolism replicates the viral DNA or RNA
4) Assembly: New virus particles are assembled
5) Lysis and Release: The host cell break open and releases new virus particles