Comments on: Poliovirus on BBC radio http://www.virology.ws/2009/11/19/poliovirus-on-bbc-radio/ About viruses and viral disease Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Margaret http://www.virology.ws/2009/11/19/poliovirus-on-bbc-radio/comment-page-1/#comment-21856 Margaret Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:04:01 +0000 http://www.virology.ws/?p=2330#comment-21856 First, I'm not a scientist, but a total layman struggling to understand viruses, so please forgive me if I sound completely ignorant! Your work on the poliovirus DNA is amazing. When I listened to the BBC fellow, a few SMALL things struck my LAYMAN'S' mind. <br> <br>1. He said that viruses' genetic material is in the form of RNA....not all are, aren't some viruses in a DNA form ?<br>2. They are "borderline between the living and the inanimate"....aren't they non-living, because without a host they cannot survive? <br>3. He said that viruses multiply by "subverting the host's reproductive system ....the host cell then reproduces according to the virus' instructions and not it's own"......sounds wrong to me. Doesn't the virus particle ,once it has invaded the host cell, then make copies of itself? It's not the host cell that reproduces surely?<br>4. He said that the virus, in order to be compatible with the host cell, converts itself to a DNA copy of the RNA virus....isn't it the case that the virus makes mRNA which then is interpreted by the host cell......?<br>5. Last, is it correct to describe your CLONED DNA POLIOVIRUS as a "novel infectious organism" ?<br><br>Like I said, and as is obvious from my post, I'm a complete layman...so I beg your forgiveness for my ignorance. I could be talking nonsense but my intentions are good....i.e. understanding science! I need a textbook that would precede your Virology 101.... First, I'm not a scientist, but a total layman struggling to understand viruses, so please forgive me if I sound completely ignorant! Your work on the poliovirus DNA is amazing. When I listened to the BBC fellow, a few SMALL things struck my LAYMAN'S' mind.

1. He said that viruses' genetic material is in the form of RNA….not all are, aren't some viruses in a DNA form ?
2. They are “borderline between the living and the inanimate”….aren't they non-living, because without a host they cannot survive?
3. He said that viruses multiply by “subverting the host's reproductive system ….the host cell then reproduces according to the virus' instructions and not it's own”……sounds wrong to me. Doesn't the virus particle ,once it has invaded the host cell, then make copies of itself? It's not the host cell that reproduces surely?
4. He said that the virus, in order to be compatible with the host cell, converts itself to a DNA copy of the RNA virus….isn't it the case that the virus makes mRNA which then is interpreted by the host cell……?
5. Last, is it correct to describe your CLONED DNA POLIOVIRUS as a “novel infectious organism” ?

Like I said, and as is obvious from my post, I'm a complete layman…so I beg your forgiveness for my ignorance. I could be talking nonsense but my intentions are good….i.e. understanding science! I need a textbook that would precede your Virology 101….

]]> By: Margaret http://www.virology.ws/2009/11/19/poliovirus-on-bbc-radio/comment-page-1/#comment-18707 Margaret Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:04:01 +0000 http://www.virology.ws/?p=2330#comment-18707 First, I'm not a scientist, but a total layman struggling to understand viruses, so please forgive me if I sound completely ignorant! Your work on the poliovirus DNA is amazing. When I listened to the BBC fellow, a few SMALL things struck my LAYMAN'S' mind. <br> <br>1. He said that viruses' genetic material is in the form of RNA....not all are, aren't some viruses in a DNA form ?<br>2. They are "borderline between the living and the inanimate"....aren't they non-living, because without a host they cannot survive? <br>3. He said that viruses multiply by "subverting the host's reproductive system ....the host cell then reproduces according to the virus' instructions and not it's own"......sounds wrong to me. Doesn't the virus particle ,once it has invaded the host cell, then make copies of itself? It's not the host cell that reproduces surely?<br>4. He said that the virus, in order to be compatible with the host cell, converts itself to a DNA copy of the RNA virus....isn't it the case that the virus makes mRNA which then is interpreted by the host cell......?<br>5. Last, is it correct to describe your CLONED DNA POLIOVIRUS as a "novel infectious organism" ?<br><br>Like I said, and as is obvious from my post, I'm a complete layman...so I beg your forgiveness for my ignorance. I could be talking nonsense but my intentions are good....i.e. understanding science! I need a textbook that would precede your Virology 101.... First, I'm not a scientist, but a total layman struggling to understand viruses, so please forgive me if I sound completely ignorant! Your work on the poliovirus DNA is amazing. When I listened to the BBC fellow, a few SMALL things struck my LAYMAN'S' mind.

1. He said that viruses' genetic material is in the form of RNA….not all are, aren't some viruses in a DNA form ?
2. They are “borderline between the living and the inanimate”….aren't they non-living, because without a host they cannot survive?
3. He said that viruses multiply by “subverting the host's reproductive system ….the host cell then reproduces according to the virus' instructions and not it's own”……sounds wrong to me. Doesn't the virus particle ,once it has invaded the host cell, then make copies of itself? It's not the host cell that reproduces surely?
4. He said that the virus, in order to be compatible with the host cell, converts itself to a DNA copy of the RNA virus….isn't it the case that the virus makes mRNA which then is interpreted by the host cell……?
5. Last, is it correct to describe your CLONED DNA POLIOVIRUS as a “novel infectious organism” ?

Like I said, and as is obvious from my post, I'm a complete layman…so I beg your forgiveness for my ignorance. I could be talking nonsense but my intentions are good….i.e. understanding science! I need a textbook that would precede your Virology 101….

]]> By: Bo Liang http://www.virology.ws/2009/11/19/poliovirus-on-bbc-radio/comment-page-1/#comment-18695 Bo Liang Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:43:19 +0000 http://www.virology.ws/?p=2330#comment-18695 Hi, Vincent, after listening to this, I spotted a few errors. I am not working on RNA virus, please correct me if I am wrong. First, not all RNA viruses have to reverse transcribe their genome. Some RNA viruses's RNA genome can be used directly by host transcription machinery. Secondly, poliovirus does not reverse transcribe during its natural replication cycle. Cloning poliovirus was just because DNA is easier to manipulate than RNA. Lastly, common cold can be caused by many different type of viruses, including both RNA viruses(rhinovirus,Coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, etc) and DNA viruses(adenovirus, etc). So not all of them have RNA as their genetic material. If I missed some errors, please add them in. <br><br>BTW, I am a graduate student working on polyomavirus. I found your TWiV in iTune podcast a few weeks ago, and really enjoy it. It is very informative and interesting! Thanks for making such a wonderful show! Hi, Vincent, after listening to this, I spotted a few errors. I am not working on RNA virus, please correct me if I am wrong. First, not all RNA viruses have to reverse transcribe their genome. Some RNA viruses's RNA genome can be used directly by host transcription machinery. Secondly, poliovirus does not reverse transcribe during its natural replication cycle. Cloning poliovirus was just because DNA is easier to manipulate than RNA. Lastly, common cold can be caused by many different type of viruses, including both RNA viruses(rhinovirus,Coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, etc) and DNA viruses(adenovirus, etc). So not all of them have RNA as their genetic material. If I missed some errors, please add them in.

BTW, I am a graduate student working on polyomavirus. I found your TWiV in iTune podcast a few weeks ago, and really enjoy it. It is very informative and interesting! Thanks for making such a wonderful show!

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