Bird flu found in dairy cows in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico
Milk from dairy cows in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico has tested positive for the presence of bird flu, U.S. officials say.
Milk from dairy cows in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico has tested positive for the presence of bird flu, U.S. officials say.
Veterinary medicine
Mar 26, 2024
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An international team of 25 scientists has proposed a roadmap for how to prevent the next pandemic by conserving natural areas and promoting biodiversity, thereby providing animals with enough food, safe havens and distance ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 26, 2024
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Humans pass on more viruses to domestic and wild animals than we catch from them, according to a major new analysis of viral genomes by UCL researchers.
Ecology
Mar 25, 2024
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Teardrop-shaped particles designed to inactivate multiple strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could one day complement existing treatments for COVID-19, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 19, 2024
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A team of scientists from Montana State University recently published unique research examining how individual cells respond to viral infection. The work used state-of-the-art technology to culture cells and track infection ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 18, 2024
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A combined team of engineers from Jiangsu University and Harvard University used a non-destructive, light diffraction fingerprint technique to detect viral infections in cells. Their paper is published in the journal Science ...
Scientists in Canada and the U.S. have discovered a new way in which Ebola—an often deadly virus affecting people mostly in sub-Saharan Africa—reproduces in the body.
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 17, 2024
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126
Researchers from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University have deciphered a novel complex decision-making process that helps viruses choose to turn nasty or stay friendly to their bacterial ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 13, 2024
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Contrary to common belief, not all viruses are harmful to their hosts. Sometimes viruses can even protect their hosts from infection by other viruses. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 13, 2024
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I am a conservation biologist who studies emerging infectious diseases. When people ask me what I think the next pandemic will be I often say that we are in the midst of one—it's just afflicting a great many species more ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 12, 2024
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I: dsDNA viruses II: ssDNA viruses III: dsRNA viruses IV: (+)ssRNA viruses V: (−)ssRNA viruses VI: ssRNA-RT viruses VII: dsDNA-RT viruses
A virus (from the Latin virus meaning toxin or poison) is a microscopic infectious agent that can reproduce only inside a host cell. Viruses infect all types of organisms: from animals and plants, to bacteria and archaea. Since the initial discovery of tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 5,000 types of virus have been described in detail, although most types of virus remain undiscovered. Viruses are ubiquitous, as they are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth, and are the most abundant type of biological entity on the planet. The study of viruses is known as virology, and is a branch of microbiology.
Viruses consist of two or three parts: all viruses have genes made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry genetic information; all have a protein coat that protects these genes; and some have an envelope of fat that surrounds them when they are outside a cell. Viruses vary in shape from simple helical and icosahedral shapes, to more complex structures. They are about 1/100th the size of bacteria. The origins of viruses in the evolutionary history of life are unclear: some may have evolved from plasmids—pieces of DNA that can move between cells—while others may have evolved from bacteria. In evolution, viruses are an important means of horizontal gene transfer, which increases genetic diversity.
Viruses spread in many ways; plant viruses are often transmitted from plant to plant by insects that feed on sap, such as aphids, while animal viruses can be carried by blood-sucking insects. These disease-bearing organisms are known as vectors. Influenza viruses are spread by coughing and sneezing, and others such as norovirus, are transmitted by the faecal-oral route, when they contaminate hands, food, or water. Rotaviruses are often spread by direct contact with infected children. HIV is one of several viruses that are transmitted through sexual contact.
Not all viruses cause disease, as many viruses reproduce without causing any obvious harm to the infected organism. Viruses such as hepatitis B can cause life-long or chronic infections, and the viruses continue to replicate in the body despite the hosts' defence mechanisms. In some cases, these chronic infections might be beneficial as they might increase the immune system's response against infection by other pathogens. However, in most cases viral infections in animals cause an immune response that eliminates the infecting virus. These immune responses can also be produced by vaccines that give lifelong immunity to a viral infection. Microorganisms such as bacteria also have defences against viral infection, such as restriction modification systems. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses, but antiviral drugs have been developed to treat both life-threatening and more minor infections.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA