Biology Stack Exchange
Biology Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [virus]

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of an organism. Virology is the study of viruses.

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Why does rabies cause hydrophobia?

What feature of rabies pathophysiology causes hydrophobia? Why is hydrophobia unique to this one particular type of viral infection?
rhill45
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How do wild animals get rabies?

I can see the chain of spreading disease: Humans usually get rabies from domestic animals, those usually get it from wild animals, wild animals in their turn get from the other wild animals and here I'm stuck. Well, so where do wild animals get it…
Dmitry
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Ebola: cleaning of protective suit

As far as I know, in developed countries protection suits used by people who treat patients with Ebola are disposed of after a shift. From a rather ambitious costume last year, I still have a hazmat suit like this one and this full-face gas…
helm
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Why don't warts caused by HPV spread to the whole body?

My son had a plantar wart on his foot, which (as I understand it) is caused by a virus which only infects skin cells. Once in the skin cell the virus replicates, but when attacked by the immune system prompts the growth of a hard, thick layer of…
Josh
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What decides whether a lysogenic cycle or a lytic cycle will take place?

A virus can either participate in a lysogenic cycle or a lytic cycle. What decides that?
biogirl
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Why is herpes virus neurotropic?

A neurotropic virus is a virus which capable of infecting nerve cells. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) has low neuroinvasivesess and high neurovirulence. HSV is transmitted in vesicle fluid, saliva and vaginal secretions. So the site of infection…
Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
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How to detect Zika in mosquitos

I'll keep this as brief as I can. I am an engineer and I have an idea for an early detection system for the Zika virus. I want to build it. However, first I need to do research on how one detects Zika in mosquitos. I am under the impression that to…
DotNetRussell
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Why bacteria and viruses are so much smaller than animal cells?

Why are bacteria and viruses so much smaller than animal cells? - I don't have more information about the question, sorry if this is too vague.
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What is the chemical composition / empirical formula of Herpes Simplex 1?

Viruses such as polio are so well documented that a search for "empirical formula polio" gives you something like C332,652 H492,388 N98,245 O131,196 P7,501 S2,340 We know that the virus consists of 70% protein, 22% phospholipid,…
sova
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Which virus capsids consist of only one type of capsid protein?

The Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) capsid consists of many copies of one protein (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/101/motm.do?momID=109). Which other viral capsids consist of only one kind of coat protein? Does each copy of the protein in these also have the…
Jesse W. Collins
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Do Noroviruses include many families?

Wikipedia says Caliciviridae Family. My notes say that Norovirus includes the following Noroviruses Norwalk-like viruses Caliciviruses Astroviruses and some small gastroenteroviruses which is a larger definition including at least two families…
Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
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A New Antiviral Drug Strategy?

I am studying viruses and I have a question about antiviral drug strategies. Why haven't researchers tried finding small molecule drugs that will bind to receptors on the host cell, thereby preventing viral attachment to the host cell? I feel as…
coolblue87
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Are there viruses that show definite enzymatic activity?

Perhaps due to outer coat protein individually or collectively.
Ahmed Abdullah
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Do viruses linger/passively transport or attack the body at once?

Do viruses generally attack as soon as they can or do they lie dormant until they reach a cozy spot in the body? Like is it improbable I have inhaled a virus if I do not feel pain in my lungs?
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Viruses. Alive or Not?

I saw this fascinating article today about how HIV moves through a mouse host in real time. http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/02/watch-hiv-spread-through-mouse-in-real-time/#continued It's common to hear a virus' activity described in the way the…
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