RNA virus

Specific Aim 2: Characterize mucosal MmuPV1 infection and persistence in nude mice by RNA sequencing analysis. Rationale: Both outbred and inbred nude mice are susceptible to MmuPV1 infection at mucosal sites including tongue, vagina and anus (16-18). Although all three sites are susceptible to MmuPV1 infection, the disease outcome varies. Vaginal tract are the most susceptible sites among the three and the infection can be detected along the vaginal tract and up to the cervical region (16,…

first occurrence of the Lassa virus was in 1969, even though it was unbeknownst to the person who contracted it at the time. While in a village named Lassa that was located in Nigeria, missionary Laura Wine contracted a mysterious disease after taking care of a patient that was giving childbirth. It wasn’t until samples of the virus were sent to be researched at Yale University that scientists and virologists alike realized that they were looking at an entirely new virus. Unfortunately, Laura…

Viruses are nonliving, microscopic organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Since they do not have the ability to replicate by themselves, viruses must rely on a host organism which allows the virus to multiple. This is why they are often referred to as cellular parasites. Since they are very small, and they can only be seen by looking through a microscope. There are approximately 5,000 different viruses that have the potential to infect plants, animals, and bacteria. Some are…

In recent years the field of virology has seen substantial growth as virus have now become a more widely researched subject. It was not too long ago relatively speaking that viruses were more or less an unknown entity, as many facts about viruses were unknown to the days researchers. Now however much more is known about what viruses are and how they work; more importantly it is known that viral agents are one of the leading causes of disease. Once it was established that they did in fact…

The influenza virus has become so deadly, due to its ability to mutate seasonally, through a process called reassortment. This involves the recombination of large genetic segments from several viral strains, which causes small genetic changes to be passed on to create a new type of daughter virus (4). Influenza viruses can do this by antigenic drift, which is when” dominant strains from the previous year have changed its surface structure enough to make the effectiveness of the flu vaccine…

differences, each silencing method has specific advantages and disadvantages. Two of the most currently understood methods of gene silencing are RNA interference (RNAi) and antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). In RNAi, the molecules that identify the target mRNA are called small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). These siRNAs are short, synthetically made double-stranded RNA molecules (Koenig et al. 2013). The combining of…

Describe the structure and function of bacteria in comparison to a virus Both bacteria and viruses are mircoogranmisms. Viruses are small obligate intracellular parasites, which by definition contain either a RNA or DNA genome surrounded by a protective, virus-coded protein coat called a caspid. They are classed as non-living because they cannot surive on their own. Conversley, bacteria are single celled livng microbes. The cell structure is simpler than that of other organisms as there is no…

ongoing viral infection. CRISPRs are variable sequences called spacers. The spacers are made from DNA of the virus that already attacked the host bacteria. The spacers serve as a sort of genetic memory of the previous infections. If another infection of the same type were to come then the CRISPR system will break apart any part of the DNA that matches that of that infection. If there is a virus that is not seen then a new spacer is created and added to the chain…

Recently, scientists in the UK have been given the green light to start research on editing the DNA of a human embryo. The ability to unzip defective genes and replace them with nondefective copies of genes has sparked a huge debate on the ethics of human gene editing. In this paper, I will briefly explore the procedure of gene modification using the editing tool CRISPIR/Cas 9, the exciting possibilities of successfully using this method, and debate several ethical concerns that have arisen due…

CDV is an enveloped, non-segmented, single-stranded RNA virus and is a member of the Morbilliviruses, thus closely related to measles virus (LAMBandKOLAKOFSKY 2001; VANDEVELDE and ZURBRIGGEN 2005). CDV possesses a nucleocapsid containing the viral genome, which consists of the nucleoprotein (N) and the polymerase complex including the (P) and (L) proteins (DEMETER et al., 2007). The membrane protein (M) is located at the inner surface of the envelope, which exhibits two surface glycoproteins:…