Ocean Virus Research Paper

The term "virus" originated from a Latin word meaning slimy liquid or poison. Half of every humans DNA originates from one virus or another. Viruses take up 20 - 400 nanometers of space which is not visible to the naked eye. There are at least 10 viruses for every single organism on planet earth. Viruses are the largest single inhabitant of the ocean. In every milliliter of water, there are more than 1 million virus molecules. To give you an idea of the of the sheer amount of virus molecules that live on the earth here is an example. If every single virus molecule was laid in a single file line, they would reach 2,000 times the length of the milky way galaxy. The milky way is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 km acroos and a single virus molecule takes

The most interesting thing about viruses, is the fact that they cannot reproduce without a host cell. So once a virus is in a host, it can start the 6 step process to produce offspring. The six steps are: attachment, viral entry, uncoating, replication, post-translational modification, and lysis. The first stage is attachment. Attachment is when a virion finds a host cell that it can begin to replicate in. The second stage is viral entry. Viral entry is the stage in which the virion actually breaches the cell wall of the host and enters the cell. At this point in time the virion now becomes a virus. The third step is uncoating. Uncoating is when the viral enzymes desolve the virus capsid and expose the viral genome to the host cells chemical factory. The fourth step is known as replication. Replication is when the fusion of the virus messenger RNA, the fusion of virus proteins, and the assembly of replicated genomic material and subsequent protein binding. The fifth step is called post-transitional modification. Post-transitional modification is when viral proteins develope after the virus leaves the host cell. The sixth and final step in the replication process is known as lysis. Lysis is the step in which the cell finally dies due to the fact that when the virus left it burst the cell 's membrane. After the cell dies it is possible for the virus genome to stay behind and come back to life at a later

The Lassa fever is much like the Ebola virus in the fact that it originated in west Africa and that it is a haemorrhagic sickness. This virus is caused by Matsomy rats. The virus is spread through the direct contact with the bodily fluid of an infected rat or person. The poor sanitation in most West African causes viruses like Ebola and Lassa to thrive. 80% of people infected only have a mild case. but unluckily for the other 20%, severe cases can result in bleeding of the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Along with diehreah, vommitng, swelling in the face, respitory issues, hearing loss, complete deafness, and possibly death.100,000-300,00 people are affected anually and about 5,000 people die annually. Death usually occurs in 14 days or less. There is a drug that is effective if it is given in the early days of the infection. But since the time of the contraction to the time of death is only around 14 days the disease is hard to catch