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Viruses evolve through changes in their RNA (or DNA), some quite rapidly, and the best adapted mutants quickly outnumber their less fit counterparts. In this sense their evolution is Darwinian. [19] The way viruses reproduce in their host cells makes them particularly susceptible to the genetic changes that help to drive their evolution. [20]
The virus may induce the cell to forcefully undergo cell division, which may lead to transformation of the cell and, ultimately, cancer. An example of a family within this classification is the Adenoviridae. There is only one well-studied example in which a class 1 family of viruses does not replicate within the nucleus.
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.
"Viruses don't really do anything — they're effectively inert until they come into contact with a host cell," said Derek Gatherer, a virologist at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. The ...
Viruses can, and do, turn our world upside down. But they also made us into what we are today.
A virus is a tiny infectious agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. When infected, the host cell is forced to rapidly produce thousands of identical copies of the original virus. Unlike most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide; new
Depending on the virus, a variety of genetic changes can occur in the host cell. In the case of a lytic cycle virus, the cell will only survive long enough to the replication machinery to be used to create additional viral units. In other cases, the viral DNA will persist within the host cell and replicate as the cell replicates.
It spreads fast and far on surfaces and through the air in tiny droplets of vomit. Most people fully recover, but only after days of misery. ... The virus travels in vomit and diarrhea. It spreads ...