NH+Virus+Article


 * "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.
 * viruses have the ability to evolve very quickly. along with that, come mutations. these mutations are what cause the evolution of the avian flu virus. if it evolves into something that can infect humans very easily, we may see another pandemic like the spanish flu of 1918.
 * Define parasite.
 * An organism that uses its host to grow and replicate.
 * Define gene.
 * genetic material used to function and replicate
 * She compares viruses to tiny parcels. Why? How are these parcels mailed?
 * they are much smaller than cells and they are easily transported either directly via bodily fluids, feces, ect, or indirectly through insects and other vectors.
 * 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.
 * mutations of two different viruses so that they meld together so they new genes have the genes of both. therefore the virus can then infect two different species and it becomes that much more deadly.
 * What is H5N1?
 * the avian flu virus.
 * Since H5N1 has killed mostly birds, why are we worried about it?
 * it has killed 60 people and has about a 50% death toll. it has the potential to become extremely deadly.
 * 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?
 * viral sex is when two different strains of a virus get together in a host and in a way meld together to form a virus that has genes from both virus strains. mutations happen through problems in replication. in both cases, they can make the virus more deadly by allowing it to infect a different that it couldn't have before.
 * How can mutation lead to evolution (origin of new species)?
 * species are based of their dna sequences. mutations change it. enough changes can cause the species to change enough to become a whole new one.
 * How can sex lead to evolution (origin of new species)?
 * sex brings new genetic material into a virus. this changes tis genetic make-up and therefore changes the organism. enough changes and it could be considered a whole new species.