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A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. [1] Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. [2] [3] Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity.
Gamma phage, an example of virus particles (visualised by electron microscopy) Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses.It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they ...
A virus with this "viral envelope" uses it—along with specific receptors—to enter a new host cell. Viruses vary in shape from the simple helical and icosahedral to more complex structures. Viruses range in size from 20 to 300 nanometres; it would take 33,000 to 500,000 of them, side by side, to stretch to 1 centimetre (0.4 in).
In fact, there are so many viruses that if you combined all of Earth’s viruses, they would cover an area spanning 100 million light-years, according to a study in Nature Reviews Microbiology.
This is a list of all virus species, including satellites and viroids. Excluded are other ranks, and other non-cellular life such as prions. Also excluded are common names and obsolete names for viruses. The taxonomy is taken from ICTV taxonomy 2022 release [1] For a list of virus families and subfamilies, see List of virus families and ...
Based on their genetic material, viruses will hijack the corresponding cellular machinery for said genetic material. Viruses that contain double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) share the same kind of genetic material as all organisms, and can therefore use the replication enzymes in the host cell nucleus to replicate the viral genome.
Virus classification is the process of naming viruses and placing them into a taxonomic system similar to the classification systems used for cellular organisms. Viruses are classified by phenotypic characteristics, such as morphology, nucleic acid type, mode of replication, host organisms, and the type of disease they cause.
The virus was finally isolated by Max Theiler (1899–1972) in 1932 who went on to develop a successful vaccine. [10] By 1928 enough was known about viruses to enable the publication of Filterable Viruses, a collection of essays covering all known viruses edited by Thomas Milton Rivers (1888–1962).