Viruses are tiny particles that require hosts to survive and reproduce. They cause disease and are notoriously difficult to treat due to their ability to mutate rapidly. Antiviral drugs focus on attacking the proteins of the virus, but the best cure is a vaccine.
A virus is a particle of infectious material. Viruses are incredibly small and are only visible with extremely powerful microscopes. When viewing the size of a virus, some people use the analogy of a human standing near Mount Everest, with the human being the virus and the mountain a flea. Many people are familiar with viruses because they cause disease as part of their life cycle. Scientists who study viruses are known as virologists; virologists attempt to identify and isolate viruses in the hope of being able to cure or vaccinate against them.
The existence of viruses began to be hypothesized as early as the 1800s, although scientists didn’t positively identify them until the 1900s. The word comes from the Latin virus, meaning a toxin or poison. Some well-known examples of viruses are Ebola, HIV, influenza and Marburg. Many of these viruses are famous for their virulence and are notoriously difficult to treat as they mutate rapidly and very efficiently.
The particles consist solely of a protein coat that encapsulates genetic material. Viruses are unable to reproduce or live on their own; they require hosts to survive and pass on their genes. As a result, many scientists are reluctant to classify viruses as living organisms. The seemingly simple particles also behave very differently from other life forms, making them difficult to classify.
When a virus enters a host, it attaches itself to a cell in the host’s body. The cell is essentially hijacked and forced to reproduce the genetic material of the virus. In some cases, the virus may remain latent, but when stimulated, the cell opens, flooding the host’s body with many copies of the virus that can go on to colonize other cells. The original host cell dies, which can be a serious problem for single-celled organisms like bacteria; a virus that preys on bacteria is called a bacteriophage.
Treating viruses is extremely difficult. Because they are not alive, drugs such as antibiotics are not effective. Antiviral drugs usually focus on attacking the proteins of the virus, in hopes of paralyzing it so it can’t continue colonizing the host. The best cure for a virus is actually a vaccine, because vaccines prevent colonization in the first place by teaching the host’s cells to attack the virus particles.
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