Emerging Viruses: Not Alive, But Potentially Fatal - Essay Example

While the constituencies of human living cells have not evolved, men have learned how to boost their immune systems. This is to maintain good health and to avoid the dangers of pathogens, without necessarily altering normal physiology. Fortunately, increasing the body's resistance to dreadful diseases has become ordinary because of the intensified information technology as well as the new findings and concoctions in the field of pharmacy.

Some may have precautionary vaccines to develop antibodies, and others may have resorted to a proper medication when ill with identified pathogens (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). Unfortunately, these created barriers to the normal multiplication of pathogens, and are the most likely switch factors to the evolution of either the DNA or the RNA, whichever is present in an animal virus that infects cells. Normally, animal viruses complete their customary multiplication cycle in six (6) stages (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007).

Initially, viruses attach to recognized receptors, usually proteins or polysaccharides, on surfaces of their specific living host cells ("Transmission of Influenza A Viruses and People-Information from CDC" 81). For example, hepatitis B and C viruses have been proven to infect liver cells causing hepatocellular carcinoma or liver tumor to attach to surfaces of hepatic cells. Sometimes viruses may be phagocytized by the host cell, which can be a free ride, so, they gain entrance right into the cytoplasm of the cell, usually called penetration of the virus to the host cell (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007).

Enzymes may be quick to recognize a substrate, the capsid, breaking it down, unintentionally releasing the nucleic acid, or uncoating and release of a DNA or RNA right in the cytoplasm of the host cell (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). Then, biosynthesis takes place where the viral genes are expressed resulting in the production of sections of viral DNA or RNA and proteins (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). In all probabilities, it is at this point when modifications to the nucleic acid composition take place resulting in new DNA or RNA.

Subsequently, the assembly of the formed sections takes place with the formation of new virions which will usually be released with the fatal lysis of the host cell or cells (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). Consequently, relentless efforts have been exerted on filtering out microorganisms like rotavirus from common sources of human pathogens, the drinking water ("New Technology Removes Viruses from Drinking Water"). Rotavirus is the most widespread cause of diarrhea among children in the United States ("New Technology Removes Viruses from Drinking Water"). Using elemental iron, Kniel, and associates found 99.99 percent efficiency in filtering out microorganisms from drinking water ("New Technology Removes Viruses from Drinking Water").