A Brief Overview of Viruses and Bacteria

A virus is a living organism that cannot reproduce on its own without a living host cell to mate with. Upon contacting a suitable host cell, a virus enters into the cell and takes over that particular cell s functions. The virus continues to replicate itself, but it creates more viral particles and genetic substance rather than the usual living cell products. After the initial replicate stage the virus is left in the infected cells for a while until the normal cellular processes clean up the viruses harmful effects. When the process is complete, the virus is free to replicate again, usually in a dormant state, until it is necessary to activate the virus again.

The process of activation is triggered when the normal functions of an infected cell are disturbed. Some cells can be over activated when the virus attempts to replicate itself, which causes the viral particles to be shed across the membrane of the cell. These particles become encapsulated by the thick layer of enveloped virus membranes. Enveloped viruses are called enveloped viruses because they are enclosed by a protective membrane, or envelope. This membrane is made of a lipophilic protein membrane.

The lipophilic membrane is what allows some viruses to enter and infect a human cell. Some viruses have receptors on their surfaces that are receptive to specific types of amino acids that allow them to latch onto these receptors and infect the infected cell. Other viruses only have receptor sites that allow them to bind to and invade the membrane of a living cell and allow their genetic codes to replicate themselves within the infected organism’s genome. Some viral infections are non-infectious in nature, but have the ability to infect other organisms once they enter the host’s body.

The common cold virus belongs to the class of viral infections known as icosahedral. Most icosahedral viruses belong to the herpes simplex virus family. When the viruses infect humans, they often cause a type of painful illness known as a sore throat. This sore throat can become severely debilitating if not properly treated, which is what makes it so important that an effective antiviral medication is administered.

Viruses and bacteriophages are both part of the class of biological viruses that have single copies of their genome. This means that the virus and bacteriophage are related, but the way in which they spread is different. Unlike biological viruses, bacteriophages do not need their host’s body to multiply; instead, their genetic machinery will do all of the work. Therefore, bacteriophages will often cause a severe case of diarrhea in its victim.

When the virus particle is ready to replicate, it will release its genetic code into the cytoplasm of its host cell. In the cytoplasm, this virus particle will latch onto and replicate itself millions of times. Now, the new copy of the virus particle will be entirely different from the original. It will have completely replaced its former self, and it will be growing out of control once again. The problem now appears to be how this virus particle is able to replicate itself millions of times without suffering any damage to itself. This problem is solved when a medicine cures the cell that the virus is in, preventing it from causing any harm to the rest of the body.