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What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

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Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#21

Post by tigershark »

koheripbal wrote: post #4
lawrenceyan wrote: post #3

In the case of the coronavirus, we see a significant binding affinity to the ACE2 membrane protein, which explains why the infection targets the lungs and guts so readily.

And also why common blood pressure medications which block that same receptor are (probably) and good anti-viral for them. Losartan is currently in clinical trials for this new usage.

From what I remember it’s the opposite. They target the ACE receptors inhibiting them and for this reason they make the ACE2 receptors more sensible facilitating the virus infection.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2...

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#22

Post by hahajk »

tcgv wrote: post #5

> Is a virus a living thing? Maybe. I remember 20 year ago, at school, when the biology teacher was presenting this dilemma. Ever since, when I hear someone saying "doing this will kill the virus", it triggers my brain into this subject, since you can't kill something if it's not alive ;) Somewhat related, I also like the concept of the "Viruses of the Mind" [1], which makes an analogy between the spreading of a biol…

It reminds me of something I read in response to that question (I can’t remember where): People love to place things in tidy categories; nature doesn’t.

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#23

Post by muldvarp »

gowld wrote: post #11
saagarjha wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can certainly deactivate things that aren't alive, though.

Is a virus active? It can be considered a toxin that a cell reacts to by creating more of the toxin.

Is a dog active?

It can be considered a collection of atoms that modifies its surroundings in a way to create similar collections of atoms.

I kind of see the point of not calling a virus a living thing. But if viruses aren't even "active" I don't really know why a cell (or even a dog) would be "active".

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#24

Post by saagarjha »

krustyburger wrote: post #12
saagarjha wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can certainly deactivate things that aren't alive, though.

My instructor was Mr. Langley... and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.

I'm not sure if I understand the reference, if there is one.

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#25

Post by dimtion »

Is there a a good read on how RNA and DNA work for a Computer Scientist? And more generally how biology, genetics, epigenetics, virus, etc work?

Many vulgarization sources say that DNA is like the source code of life. But they mostly skim across the issue and go to conclusions like "this gene or set of genes are responsible for that outcome".

But coming from a CS background that sounds a bit like non-sense. I feel like it is like saying that "this processor instruction is responsible for that outcome". But in the end what is important is not the individual instruction but the interaction between them and the environment (Input / Ouput).

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#28

Post by trehalose »

> Try multiplying a billion billion billion billion by a trillion trillion trillion trillion, then multiply that by a thousand, and that (10 to the 31st power) is the mind-numbing estimate of how many individual viral particles are estimated to populate the planet.

What definitions of "billion" and "trillion" are they using? 10 to the 31st would be only ten million trillion trillion, going by the common definition of million as 10 to the 6th and trillion as 10 to the 12th.

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#29

Post by boneitis »

holler wrote: post #26

Read this recently and found it fascinating! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_evolution

To add on to sources of fascinating information...

At least for me, I had tons of pedestrian questions, as I haven't taken a biology/chemistry course since high school.

A search for virology on the youtoobs led me here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_bOhZd6ieM

I found it to be a homerun in all but addressing my 20-30 questions in these times just in the first ten minutes. To the point. Without the current yt culture of gratuitous cuts and FX.

Re: What's a virus, anyway? The bare-bones basics

#30

Post by lordnacho »

dimtion wrote: post #25

Is there a a good read on how RNA and DNA work for a Computer Scientist? And more generally how biology, genetics, epigenetics, virus, etc work? Many vulgarization sources say that DNA is like the source code of life. But they mostly skim across the issue and go to conclusions like "this gene or set of genes are responsible for that outcome". But coming from a CS background that sounds a bit like non-sense. I feel li…

I listened to the Great Courses audiobook about Biology. There's a lot about how the machinery of the cell works, how it evolved, and so on. He goes through everything else as well, including the immune system, ecology, and so on. It all ties together.

Regarding the genes and central dogma, he gives a LOT of detail about how for instance it was discovered that codons work in threes (not twos or fours). Also how it was discovered that DNA is the thing with the code, how the transcription process works, how the different kinds of RNA are involved, all the way to how the protein comes out.

The audiobook also comes with a downloadable book in case you'd rather read it.

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