Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Gamma phage, an example of virus particles (visualised by electron microscopy) Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses.It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they ...
Some viruses can "hide" within a cell, which may mean that they evade the host cell defenses or immune system and may increase the long-term "success" of the virus. This hiding is deemed latency. During this time, the virus does not produce any progeny, it remains inactive until external stimuli—such as light or stress—prompts it to activate.
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. [1] Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. [2] [3] Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity.
With flu, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and the common cold, experts say, people are generally most infectious between a day or two before symptoms begin and then for a few days afterward.
The origins of viruses are unclear: some may have evolved from plasmids, others from bacteria. Viruses are sometimes considered to be a life form, because they carry genetic material, reproduce and evolve through natural selection. However they lack key characteristics (such as cell structure) that are generally considered necessary to count as ...
Whether or not viruses should be considered as alive is controversial. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] They are most often considered as just gene coding replicators rather than forms of life. [ 37 ] They have been described as "organisms at the edge of life" [ 38 ] because they possess genes , evolve by natural selection, [ 39 ] [ 40 ] and replicate by making ...
A virus with this "viral envelope" uses it—along with specific receptors—to enter a new host cell. Viruses vary in shape from the simple helical and icosahedral to more complex structures. Viruses range in size from 20 to 300 nanometres; it would take 33,000 to 500,000 of them, side by side, to stretch to 1 centimetre (0.4 in).
(A) When the host cell is only infected by a giant virus, the latter establishes a cytoplasmic virus factory to replicate and generates new virions, and the host cell is most likely lysed at the end of its replication cycle. (B) When the host cell is co-infected with a giant virus and its virophage, the latter parasitizes the giant virus factory.