Download Properties of Viruses

VIROLOGY
(STUDY OF VIRUSES)
VIRUS:
*Latin for “poison” or “slimy liquid”
Science Nerd Definition:
A small subcellular form that is…
1…smaller than a cell
2…not considered a "living” organism
3…virulent - can cause disease
A Virus is an Intracellular parasite
invades living cells can only "live"(survive/reproduce) within that cell
Properties of Viruses
(what they look like and other stuff like that!)
*consist of
DNA..
*..or
RNA
never both..
Size
*smaller than smallest bacteria cell
(Properties of viruses, continued…)
Shapes*brick,cylindrical,oval
..or may have more complicated structures almost
like ROBOTS
(virus shapes, continued..)
Polio
Rabies
Influenza
Ebola
Hepatitis
Early Italian scientists
Thought this illness was caused
by the INFLUENCE of the stars
And planets..
Rhinovirus
(common cold)
Rotavirus
Rabies
Polio
Dr. Jonas Salk
1914-1995
Influenza
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Ebola
Smallpox
Edward Jenner
How do viruses (most) attack cells and make us sick??
Let’s use the T4 bacteriophage as an example:
T4 bacteriophage is a virus that looks
a lot like an alien landing pod------>
With its six legs, the bacteriophage
attaches to the surface of the much larger bacteria
Escherichia coli (E. coli).
Once attached, the bacteriophage injects DNA into the
bacterium.
The DNA instructs the bacterium to produce masses of new
viruses.
So what happens to the bacterium?
So many new “baby” viruses are produced
that the E. coli BURSTS!!
This process of bursting is called LYSIS.
Here's what an actual population of E. coli looks like
as it is wiped out by T4 bacteriophage:
Now THAT’S a NASTY virus!