NSCI 1403 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Streptococcal Pharyngitis, Prophage, Lytic Cycle
27 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
The term virus is associated with a number of plant, animal, and human diseases. A virus is a small packet of genetic instructions for making copies of itself inside a living cell. Viruses are deemed as being biological enigmas. They have some characteristics of living organisms, such as dna or rna genome, and the ability to evolve and replicate. However, viruses are not considered living organisms. They can reproduce only by using the metabolic machinery of a host cell. Viruses do not have a metabolism and do not respond to stimuli. Common cold, influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) Knowledge of viruses began in 1884 when french chemist louis pasteur suggested that something smaller that a bacterium was the cause of rabies. He chose the word virus from the latin word meaning poison. This su(cid:271)sta(cid:374)tiated pasteur"s belief because it meant that the disease-causing agent was smaller than any known bacterium.
