The Cold Virus and Other Nasties
Created | Updated Apr 17, 2002
A virus is a microscopic 'organism' (they occupy their own taxonomic position, thus the term 'organism' is, in fact, erronious as they cannot exist outwith a host) which inhabits a living cell. They reproduce by independent synthesis of their component parts and occupy two distinct groups: DNA viruses and RNA viruses, never both (for reasons best known to...[insert here your favourite deity or anthropomorphic personification]). The whole subject is very complicated and involves the use of words such as: phage, icosahedra, virion, lysogeny, deoxynucleotide, Coxsackie and polymerase. Suffice to say, the intricacies are best left to the experts. All we need to know is that they are little buggers, hell-bent on making your life a misery. Symptoms range from excessive mucus production to death and it is for this reason, remembering that these suckers are oozing out of every pore, that space travel is best left to the realms of science fiction (See: Space Travel, Propulsion and other minutia). By shaking hands, limbs, claws, paws, fins or tentacles with our universal cousins we might inadvertantly pass on some lethal bug that wipes some harmless civilisation right out of creation. Okay, so this is a worst case scenario but even so, how would you like to have that on your conscience? Remember that the next time you use the toilet and neglect to wash your hands.
