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Virus. What is a Virus?. In latin = poison A non-cellular particle made up of genetic material and protein that can invade living cells Can only be seen by electron microscope. Herpes Virus. Structure of a Virus. Consists of core nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat (capsid)
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What is a Virus? • In latin = poison • A non-cellular particle made up of genetic material and protein that can invade living cells • Can only be seen by electron microscope
Structure of a Virus • Consists of core nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat (capsid) • Core is either DNA or RNA (never both)
Structure of virus • Comes in a variety of shapes: rod, tadpole, helical, cube-like • Vary in size from 10-400 nanometers long (1 nanometer = 1billionth of a meter)
Bacteriophage • A type of virus that invades bacteria and consists of a core nucleic acid (DNA), a protein capsid (which is the head), and a tail. Capsid Head DNA Tail Tail Fiber
Viral Diseases Viruses are pathogens (disease – causing agents) responsible for much human suffering Cause human disease such as : AIDS, smallpox, chickenpox, polio, measles, mumps, influenza, yellow fever, rabies and the common cold
Types of Diseases • There are 2 main types: 1) Endemic Disease • Disease that are with us all the time • Example: common cold 2) Epidemic Disease • Diseases that start to spread rapidly • Example: influence and measles in the winter
Virus Transmission • Viruses can be spread through: 1) Direct Contact • Touching, biting by infected animal 2) Indirect contact • Airborne droplets, water, food, bodily fluids and fecal matter
Specificity of a Virus • Usually a specific virus can only infect specific organism (ie. Plant viruses will not affect animals; bacteriophage will only infect bacteria) • There are millions of type of viruses, so they are capable of infecting virtually all organisms (eg. Bacteria, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) Girl with flu shot go wrong