What are viruses | Viral infection

To know what are Vital Information Resource Under Siege (virus), we need to understand its past, who and when discovered it?

How viruses was found

In back days, if any tissue was infected then scientists used a special filter to remove that bacteria which was causing infection. After removing that bacteria, scientists found out that tissue was still infected.

Thereafter scientists concluded that there is something which is even smaller than bacteria, which was causing infection and they named it as a virus.

As it is smaller than bacteria it can be only seen through an electron microscope. Until 1930 there was no electron microscope through which it can be seen.

In 1915, Frederick Twort discovered the virus that attacks bacteria and named it as bacteriophage. He noticed a tiny clear spot at bacterial colonies and concluded something was killing bacteria.

In 1935, the first virus named Tobacco Mosaic Virus was discovered and it was first seen with an electron microscope.

Image source - Google | Image by - heritage.tudelft.nl

What is a virus?

Till now we have understood that a virus is smaller than bacteria and it can be only seen under an electron microscope.

Different types of viruses have different size :

• Coronavirus = 80nm
• Influenza = 100nm
• HIV-1 = 120nm
• Hepatitis A = 30nm
• Hepatitis C = 50nm
• Ebola virus = 80*970nm

Only around 6000 viruses have been studied yet. For instance, to give a better picture Human cell is x1000 bigger than the coronavirus.

We cant see viruses from our naked eyes even bacteria cannot see, but the viruses are present everywhere in our surroundings from the air we breathe to the food we eat. We ingest, inhale, and take in millions of viruses per second.

A virus is a complex collection of organic matter that is able to self-replicate within a host cell.

It has no cytoplasm or nucleus that can resemble a cell. In other words, it is only a parasite they can only reproduce in another living cell.

A virus is simply made up of a shell that is made up of protein and fats. Inside this shell, it has either DNA or RNA which can be single-stranded or double-stranded and with some enzymes for replications and manipulations of their genetic materials.

Image source - Google | Image by sciencelearn.org

The main purpose of any viruses is to increase its population which they cannot do by themself. To complete its task they need a cell also called a host cell.

Cells are the smallest unit of life. A cell can replicate DNA, Protein, and store resources, this makes a perfect machine for a virus to increase its population.

It can bind to any host cell by using its molecular receptors situated at its protein shell and will get attached to the cell membrane of the host cell.

A virus inside the cell will take control over the protein building structure of the host cell and it will begin to replicate the viruses. Hence the host cell will become virus making machine and it will continue to replicate the virus until and unless the cell explodes.

Once the cell explodes, there will be a number of viruses surrounding that area and every virus will do the same thing, will find a host cell, and will increase its population. That's how infection happens to us.

A virus can infect humans, plants, animals, and even bacteria. To get rid of any infection we have to use vaccines.

If want to know more about how vaccines were invented then must go to this article.

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