Origins and Evolution of Viruses
21.1 INTRODUCTION TO ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF VIRUSES In this chapter we shall speculate on how viruses may have originated and consider the mechanisms by which viruses evolved in the…
Transcription, Translation, and Transport
6.1 INTRODUCTION TO TRANSCRIPTION, TRANSLATION, AND TRANSPORT In this chapter we deal with three terms derived from the Latin trans, meaning across. For our purposes, transcription refers to the writing…
Anti-viral Drugs
26.1 INTRODUCTION TO ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS In this chapter we discuss another major application of virology: the development and use of drugs to combat virus diseases in humans. Drugs are available…
Parvoviruses (and Other ssDNA Viruses)
12.1 INTRODUCTION TO PARVOVIRUSES Parvoviruses are among the smallest known viruses, with virions in the range 18–26 nm in diameter. They derive their name from the Latin parvus (small). The…
Influenza Virus
16.1 INTRODUCTION TO INFLUENZA VIRUSES We are devoting a chapter to the influenza viruses because they are responsible for a huge disease burden and for hundreds of thousands of deaths…
Viruses and Cancer
23.1 INTRODUCTION TO VIRUSES AND CANCER A cancer in a human or an animal is a malignant tumor and involves continuous proliferation of a clone of cells derived from one…
Survival of Infectivity
24.1 PRESERVATION OF VIRUS INFECTIVITY There are several practical situations in which there is a need to preserve virus infectivity. A prime example is during the storage and distribution of…
Reoviruses (and Other dsRNA Viruses)
13.1 INTRODUCTION TO REOVIRUSES Icosahedral viruses with segmented genomes of dsRNA, isolated from the respiratory tracts and enteric tracts of humans and animals, and with which no disease could be…
Virus Genome Replication
7.1 OVERVIEW OF VIRUS GENOME REPLICATION In this chapter we consider the fifth step of our generalized replication cycle: genome replication. The genome of the infecting virus is replicated so…
Attachment and Entry of Viruses into Cells
5.1 OVERVIEW OF VIRUS REPLICATION The aim of a virus is to replicate itself, and in order to achieve this aim it needs to enter a host cell, make copies…
