Viruses And Its Effects On Humans - 1404 Words

Though viruses may seem as though it only has the potential to cause harm, recent studies have surfaced to change its bad reputation. Common known viruses such as Ebola, rabies, influenza, HIV and more are known to show harmful reactions to humans, sometimes even possible to cause death. Because of the way they work, viruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus has been looked into in terms of reprogramming, ending in a result that could possibly be an option to treat another catastrophic epidemic of humans, cancer. What are viruses? Viruses are small infectious agents that replicate inside the living cells of other organisms. Viruses particles are one hundred times smaller than a human cell. Viruses are not alive. They cannot grow†¦show more content†¦In the lytic cycle, the virus particle attaches itself to the host cell in a process called absorption. The virus particle then injects either its DNA or RNA into the host cell, in a process for entry. This invading DNA or RNA takes over the cell and recruits the hosts enzymes**.(add citation)** These enzymes now start making new virus particles, in a process called replication. The particles of the virus that were created by the cell could then come together to form new viruses. These now newly formed viruses can then kill the cell so they may break free through lysis and search for a new host cell, in a process called release. The lysogenic cycle is another form of viral reproduction that involves the fusion of the nucleic acid of a bacteriophage with th at of a host. Their viral genome will integrate with host DNA and replicate along with it fairly harmlessly. This virus then remains dormant until the hosts conditions deteriorate, which is when prophages become active. At this point they initiate the reproductive cycle, resulting in lysis of the host cell. As the cycle allows the host cell to continue to survive and reproduce, the virus is reproduced in all of the cell’s offspring (George 1996). How does HIV affect the body? Infection with HIV is particularly troublesome for the immune system because it infects and destroys immune system cells.(Bagby, 2015) Untreated, the disease progresses over a few years to AIDS,