3D model of an influenza virus. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Are viruses alive?
In a sense, viruses are molecular hijackers bent on subverting host defenses, taking over a host cell’s ability to control nucleic acid and protein processing functions, and making copies of themselves to go out and infect more cells. Viruses don’t divide like cells, don’t generate their own energy, and are fully dependent on host cells and their proteins to replicate.
Don’t let this simplicity fool you, viruses have very sophisticated means of taking over cells and turning them into factories for making even more viral copies.However, since they can’t accomplish many of the major of functions of life on their own outside of the host cell it has been debated for many years whether viruses are “alive.” Continue reading Are Viruses Alive?→
Polio is a disease that has seemed to fade away in the United States since the introduction of the polio vaccine in 1955. However, this disease is alive and well outside of the US despite a strong push by international agencies such as the WHO to eradicate polio in the last few decades. In fact, in 1988 the WHO pledged to eradicate polio by 2000, but this dream has yet to reach reality. Why is the eradication of polio less successful than the effort to eradicate Smallpox, a goal achieved in the 1970’s? These difficulties come from the nature of polio itself and the special challenges it poses to those who would halt its transmission. Continue reading The Problem with Polio→
However, since they can’t accomplish many of the major of functions of life on their own outside of the host cell it has been debated for many years whether viruses are “alive.” Continue reading Are Viruses Alive? 
K.D.Shives 