Virus+Article+JM


 * "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.
 * she means that if the avian virus evolves it could eventually be spread from person to person.
 * Define parasite.
 * an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.
 * Define gene.
 * genetic material used to function and replicate
 * She compares viruses to tiny parcels. Why? How are these parcels mailed?
 * she compares viruses to tiny parcels because they a much smaller than cells. the parcels are mailed through sneezing feces, semen and the like, or indirectly, through carriers like insects.
 * 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.
 * What is H5N1?
 * the virus causing the avian flu.
 * Since H5N1 has killed mostly birds, why are we worried about it?
 * we are worried about it because the virus could evolve and be transfered between humans, and could become extremly 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. a viral mutation is when it alters the information content of genes
 * How can mutation lead to evolution (origin of new species)?
 * mutation can lead to evolution because the virus could mutate which means that it would change its genetic code and make the virus available to people.
 * How can sex lead to evolution (origin of new species)?
 * sex could lead to evolution because it could create new viruses that therea re not vaccines for and would be impossible to cure.
 * How can sex lead to evolution (origin of new species)?
 * sex could lead to evolution because it could create new viruses that therea re not vaccines for and would be impossible to cure.