Virus+Article

1. if we are unlucky..." the author writes we will see evolution in action. What does she mean? Why would it by unlucky to see the avian virus evolve. The author says this because it is an example of evolution at work. THis is a strand of flu that has evolved from a regular strand, and has mutated and has become a more deadly virus than just the normal flu.JUST INFECTS BIRDS NOW, RARELY SPREAD HUMAN TO HUMAN, A MUTATION COULD CHANGE THIS 2. Define parasite. Parasite is an organism that lives inside of another organism 3. Define gene. A specific sequene of nucleotides in DNA or RNA that is located on a chromosome and that is the functional unit of inheritance 4. She compares viruses to tiny parcels. Why? How are these parcels mailed? They are compared to "parcels" because they can quickly be transported from one organism to another just like mail. This is a very clever comparison, because of how quickly the transportation process can take place. GOOD 5. 20 million people died of the Spanish Flu during World War II. Yet the author claims to know that this flu virus was particularly deadly not that it was a normal virus but because of the war and wartime "deprivation" people were more likely to get sick and die. What two pieces of evidence indicate this was a very deadly virus unlike the normal flu virus. The symptoms that the people who were infected were experienceing, as well as the fact taht it was more lethal in animals It could have been that this disease was brought about from the transportation of people eating infected animals.INFECTING YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUNG HEALTHY PEOPLE DYING 6. What is H5N1? THis is the scientific name for this strand of deadly flu virus BIRD FLU 7. Since H5N1 has killed mostly birds, why are we worried about it? Birds come in direct contact with humans, and humans consume a lot of birds in their every day diet like chicken. If this is true, it could lead to more and more people getting sick from birds that are infected GOOD 8. Two processes could change the H5N1 in a deadly way: sex and mutation. What is viral sex and how could it change the virus? What is viral mutation and how could this change the virus? Its like an STD, the disease can mutate through sex now, and become even more deadly picking up viruses from STD's. NOT FROM STDS'S THESE ARE TWO WAYS THE VIRUS CAN CHANGE 9. How can mutation lead to evolution (origin of new species)? Mutation can always lead to Evolution for the simple fact that soemthing is evolving into a new type of disease away from what it used to be 10. How can sex lead to evolution (origin of new species)? Sex can lead to the evolution of new STD's, because they come from bacterial infections and once someone has it they can effect anyone else that they come into direct contact with. THIS IS GETTING AT VIRAL SEX (EXCHANGE OF GENES AND CHANGE) NOT HUMAN SEX AND STDS