Intro to Bussiness
Kenisha Pinckney
October 10, 2012
Biology 101
Synopsis
“The Race to Create the Best Anti-Viral Drugs” What is the difference between an anti-biotic and an anti-viral drug? First it is important to find out what’s the difference between a bacteria and a virus. A bacterium is one of the three living domains of life. It is a prokaryote which means it does not house a nucleus or membrane-bounded organelles. However, it does have a nucleoid region where the DNA is stored. It can be said that bacteria is more like us because they can share their DNA with one another through conjugation and even pick up other DNA through transformation. On the other hand, a virus is not made up of cells. They are acellular. To add, they are not living and only reproduce by attaching (the spikes help them to do so) to a living cell or host cell. Once they attach to its host, they trick the cell into creating genetic material for them. Anti-biotics are used to treat the bad bacteria that we may have in our bodies. Unfortunately, this kills off the good bacteria which puts our immune system at risks or under dangerous attacks. Anti-virals are the drugs prescribed to (not kill since it is impossible to kill a virus) keep an illness under control or prevent the virus from spreading. The major difference between the two is that anti-biotics can be used to kill off several bacteria but anti-virals are so narrow that they can only be used for one virus at a time. In order to end the crisis with anti-virals some scientists found distinctive ways to broaden the drug. The first approach was to create a drug that prevented protein from helping viruses replicate. If this drug were made it would be beneficial because there would be no side effects. Proteins wouldn’t be able to come together to form new viruses. Secondly, as humans our bodies naturally kill off viruses all the time with an interferon protein. This protein become present once a virus has been detected. The infected cell produces 300
October 10, 2012
Biology 101
Synopsis
“The Race to Create the Best Anti-Viral Drugs” What is the difference between an anti-biotic and an anti-viral drug? First it is important to find out what’s the difference between a bacteria and a virus. A bacterium is one of the three living domains of life. It is a prokaryote which means it does not house a nucleus or membrane-bounded organelles. However, it does have a nucleoid region where the DNA is stored. It can be said that bacteria is more like us because they can share their DNA with one another through conjugation and even pick up other DNA through transformation. On the other hand, a virus is not made up of cells. They are acellular. To add, they are not living and only reproduce by attaching (the spikes help them to do so) to a living cell or host cell. Once they attach to its host, they trick the cell into creating genetic material for them. Anti-biotics are used to treat the bad bacteria that we may have in our bodies. Unfortunately, this kills off the good bacteria which puts our immune system at risks or under dangerous attacks. Anti-virals are the drugs prescribed to (not kill since it is impossible to kill a virus) keep an illness under control or prevent the virus from spreading. The major difference between the two is that anti-biotics can be used to kill off several bacteria but anti-virals are so narrow that they can only be used for one virus at a time. In order to end the crisis with anti-virals some scientists found distinctive ways to broaden the drug. The first approach was to create a drug that prevented protein from helping viruses replicate. If this drug were made it would be beneficial because there would be no side effects. Proteins wouldn’t be able to come together to form new viruses. Secondly, as humans our bodies naturally kill off viruses all the time with an interferon protein. This protein become present once a virus has been detected. The infected cell produces 300