Can a Virus move at Light Speed?

If viruses are living biological organisms, what are their biological life expectancies?

If viruses are molecules, what are their molecular life expectancies?

Do all humans, animals, and plants, require at least one type of virus to survive?

Originally posted by GreatTech
If viruses are living biological organisms, what are their biological life expectancies?

If viruses are molecules, what are their molecular life expectancies?

Do all humans, animals, and plants, require at least one type of virus to survive?

Well, I suppose there life expectancy could be either how long they
can stay in an environment where they have the chance of infecting
a cell, allowing for reproduction. In that case it would vary.

If you keep a virus in a stable environment, it may be able to exist
as long as it's components half-lives I suppose.

I'm not sure about the last thing, but I have an inkling that viruses
do actually help us.

Originally posted by iori_komei

Originally posted by GreatTech
If viruses are living biological organisms, what are their biological life expectancies?

If viruses are molecules, what are their molecular life expectancies?

Do all humans, animals, and plants, require at least one type of virus to survive?

Well, I suppose there life expectancy could be either how long they
can stay in an environment where they have the chance of infecting
a cell, allowing for reproduction. In that case it would vary.

If you keep a virus in a stable environment, it may be able to exist
as long as it's components half-lives I suppose.

I'm not sure about the last thing, but I have an inkling that viruses
do actually help us.

Yet more dis-information......

Originally posted by Keltoi
Yet more dis-information......

Alright, how exactly am I spreading disinformation?

I answered to the best of my knowledge, I'm not trying
to mislead anyone.

Viruses help us how exactly? Expand! .What viruses and how?

Originally posted by Keltoi
Viruses help us how exactly? Expand! .What viruses and how?

I did'nt say they did, I said I have a feeling some viruses
help us in some way, I don't know how, I'm not stating it
as fact, it's just a feeling.

Ok,.Are you of the belief that AIDs is a man made virsus ?

Keltoi, I think that iori isn't saying that AIDS was manmade, or that people dying from viral diseases is a good thing, just that there might be some beneficial aspects to some viruses out there that we aren't aware of, or that some might be modified to become useful to us.

Some people might think, for example, that all bacteria are harmful, but we know thats not true, and that some, like bacteriophages, actually kill harmful viruses.

Consider then, for example, that there was some sort of virus that infects cells, but needs to have cancer-causing genes in the cell's genome order to become actived and replicate and kill that cell, that'd certainly be helpful.

There are also things called 'transposons'. These are segements of DNA, genetic code, that exist in our genome, they can 'cut' themselves out of our DNA, and 'jump' to other sections of it, and then 'paste' themselves in. Some of them do this directly, some produce RNA, which then hooks up with some of the cell's replicative machinery to reverse input themselves into the genome. SImilar to how some reverse transcription viruses behave.

Imagine if some of those transposons aren't infact 'human', but are the 'descendants' of some virus that infected one of our own ancestors generations ago, and simply live in 'coexistence' with the genes of our body. And these things can cause mutations too, so who knows if some of these mutations are infact beneficial.

BUt I general I'll agree, viruses=bad. Germs=bad.

Originally posted by LazarusTheLong
how can you kill something that isn't alive?

Its not killed really, its been messed with such that its not able to be replicated or infect a cell. That way, its in the body, and the immune system can become familiar with it, so that, if later an unaltered virus invades the body, it can be responded to quickly to prevent the disease from occuring, or from being severe.

If a virus isn't alive, but actually just a conglomeration of molecules that alter a human cell isn't that the same thing as a Prion?

I'd say so, more or less. A big difference though is that a virus has a 'phenotype' made up of materials that are different than its 'genotype', its got a protein coat, and then a core of DNA (or RNA, depending). A prion's phenotype IS its genotype.

Nygdan, you are brilliant. Your scientific knowledge is very impressive.

I'm actually making all of this up.

each person assumes that everything we experience with our senses on a macroscopic and microscopic scale (including the couch) was alive, would medical and scientific progress be greater than current rates?

I suspect it'd make scientific work, or even simply getting on with a normal day, into an ethical quagmire. If we have to treat, say, our keyboards the same as we would treat a cute wittle bunny, well, overly verbose people like me'd be arrested!

midnight destroyer
Viruses are similar to "gametes" (look it up), the sperm or egg cells within "fully-functional" bio-organisms.

Hmm, yes, they're like inanimate gametes. The thing is though, gametes can be thought of as an 'alternation of the generation' , like with plants. I am me, and my gametes, they're just a different 'stage' of 'me', one that will reproduce in a very primitive, bacteria like way (later transfer, genetic fusion). They blur the line of a 'distinct and temporal' "individual" in a sense.

Gametes only have half a genetic code, therefore they must bond together to make a complete, functioning cell

I don't think that its the haploid condition that makes them like a virus, there are plants and such that go through haploid stages, but where that haploid cell reproduces.

What makes a bacterium different from gametes & viruses is that bacteria can temporarily merge & alter each other's genetic codes.

Also that a bacterium can reproduce on its own through division, whereas a virus must invade another cell, or gametes must fuse, etc.

[edit on 2-11-2006 by Nygdan]

Actually, these transposons, there are infact lots of them that are infact ancient viruses. They are called 'endogenous retroviruses', I had forgotten. This page reminded me:

www.thenakedscientists.com...
pigs are a potential source of organs. But when scientists transplanted pig organs into mice, they found that a porcine (pig) endogenous retrovirus, which had been dormant in the pig genome, reactivated and infected the mice.

Some people are also saying, but this is a new phenomenon, that Morgellon's disease, and its existence as a disease is debated, is causing, with some people who were infected with syphillis, but later had children, for the children, who otherwise exhibited no symptons of syphillis, to develop it. But, of course, syphillis is caused by a bacteria, so this might all be incorrect speculation, but its another instance of a plausible, yet whacky, thing that can happen out there.

Ok, Are you of the belief that AIDs is a man made virsus?

No, I do not hold that belief.


Nygdan pretty much hit the nail on the head on what
I was meaning.

Originally posted by GreatTech
Naturally, or engineered to do such? What is the maximum speed, average speed, and minimum speed of all types of viruses? How does speed of viruses influence their harmful effects on humans, animals, and plants? Are there any natural or engineered beneficial viruses?

I still live in the world where anything is possible.

Um... viruses don't move peroid let alone the speed of light. Biologists still don't even know if viruses are living. And if they had the energy to move at the speed of light and were alive they won't be paracitic. In terms a making one artifically to do that may be possible if the viruse eccence was elecromagnetic and it affected people that way. But, viruses in the common sense like AIDS moving at the speed of light is impossible. Computer virus already move at the speed of light.

Viruses have highly developed communication skills.

Definition of communication: able to relate with others of the same species or other species with directional influence or power.

Humans can kill other humans. Humans can kill viruses. Viruses can kill other viruses. Viruses can kill humans.

Imagine the communication network of a microbe that can kill a human with billions of cells.

For all I know there are viruses that have lived over 10,000 years, far exceeding the human with the longest life span.

We must treat the virus with respect and use it to engineer technology to cure disease.

Anybody on ATS know of anybody researching viruses to cure disease?

GreatTech I do know some one. My 4rth cousin. He works with viruses and what not. He even laughs when people say AIDS is bad. He says AIDS is nothing.

Originally posted by GreatTech
Viruses have highly developed communication skills.

Definition of communication: able to relate with others of the same species or other species with directional influence or power.

Humans can kill other humans. Humans can kill viruses. Viruses can kill other viruses. Viruses can kill humans.

Imagine the communication network of a microbe that can kill a human with billions of cells.

Viruses don't communicate, they don't have the neccesary parts,
really they are just to small to do anything except exist.

Viruses don't communicate with eachother.

Yes, we can kill eachother, viruses can disable eachother, we can
disable viruses and viruses can kill us, but it does'nt mean they're
alive, it really just basic biochemistry at work.

Viruses kill humans by producing more of themselves by highjacking
cells.
They are'nt consciously trying to do anything, since it's impossible
for them to have consciousness.

To explain it better, consider this analogy;
A virus is like a plant that produces spores to reproduce that are toxic
to other life.
The plant is not conscious, the reproduction process is a natural biolo-
gical function.
Now say President Tom (hehe) walks into a field with the plant, it hap-
pens to start it's reproduction cycle a few seconds after he stops in
front of it, he ingests the spores, they kill him because of their toxicity.

You see the plant has no intention of killing him, indeed it has not inten-
tion at all, as it has no brain, the natural reproductive process it uses
just happens to be deadly to humans, similiar to a virus.

For all I know there are viruses that have lived over 10,000 years, far exceeding the human with the longest life span.

We must treat the virus with respect and use it to engineer technology to cure disease.

Anybody on ATS know of anybody researching viruses to cure disease?

I'm not a vivisectionist(sp?), so I don't know how long viruses 'live',
but I don't see why a strain of virus could'nt exist for thousands of
years, and I'm pretty sure there are some that have.

How can you repect a virus though, I mean you can't open doors to it,
you can't be polite when conversing, since you just generally could'nt.


No, I am not personally aquanted with any individual(s) that do, have
done or will be doing any kind of research or work in general that has
to do with viruses.

Originally posted by Nygdan

...another instance of a plausible, yet whacky, thing that can happen out there.

Well, okay. Is it possible that viruses access quantum wormholes? Or create them?

www.physics.helsinki.fi...

"Wormhole magnetic fields provide a quantum mechanism for a control at distance, say of the control of the behaviour of cell organelles by cell nucleus as well as a model for the memory of biosystem in terms of integer valued winding numbers identifiable as quantized momenta of the wormhole supra currents.

***

www.helsinki.fi...

Wormhole super conductivity leads to a quantum model of EEG and nerve pulse. In the model the lipid layers of the cell membrane are identified as coupled wormhole super conductors. Join along boundaries bonds connecting the lipid layers serve as Josephson junctions [Josephson]. The model [eeg] is described in more detail in a separate abstract.

b) Wormholes could be important also in DNA and molecular length scales and perhaps provide even DNA with a rudimentary nervous system. This idea gets support from the successful model of the so called Comorosan effect [Comorosan1,Comorosan2,worm].

.

Considering the size of the universe and what 'we' actually know about it (nothing), it's more than plausible that viruses can travel at the 'speed-of-light'...maybe even faster.

'We' do not even know whether our laws of physics are the same throughout the universe.

This type of question doesn't really have an answer to it except:

maybe.

Originally posted by ferretman2
Considering the size of the universe and what 'we' actually know about it (nothing), it's more than plausible that viruses can travel at the 'speed-of-light'...maybe even faster.

'We' do not even know whether our laws of physics are the same throughout the universe.

This type of question doesn't really have an answer to it except:

maybe.

I agree with you. Thank you for your open-view of things and creative remarks.

An average virus moves (x,y,z coordinate motion) most like which macroorganism? An average virus moves at a speed most like which macroorganism?

Originally posted by Byrd
And they do mutate (some mutate rapidly.)

Very true...The reason why the "common cold" is so common is because it mutates too rapidly to engineer vaccines to account for all of the different varieties.

Originally posted by Byrd
Viruses (a chain of proteins) react only in the form of "this particular site fits this structure on me" and have no way of moving to make any voluntary response.

This is also how the T-Cells in your bloodstream "recognizes" pathogens in your body...Your immune system creates new shapes of T-Cells every time you come into contact with a new pathogen. This is how your body builds up resistance or immunity to viruses, as I pointed out earlier.
You can still get sick twice from the same virus, if it's had a chance to mutate into a different "shape" while in someone else's body before coming back into contact with you later on. Of course, you're likely to be partially resistant, but your immune system would still have to make a few minor "adjustments" to produce slightly different T-Cells.

Originally posted by Nygdan
Also that a bacterium can reproduce on its own through division, whereas a virus must invade another cell, or gametes must fuse, etc.

Hmmm...I thought that's what I said, albeit in a different manner. I used the term "bond" for gametes, I only mentioned how bacteria can alter each other but didn't say that it was the way they could reproduce but that a virus must invade & highjack the functions of an actual cell in order to reproduce (sort of like all those illegal immigrants invading America & highjacking all of the jobs away from American Citizens).
If you took that to mean something else, perhaps I just didn't word it right...

Originally posted by Nygdan
But, of course, syphillis is caused by a bacteria...

Something a bit related: When I mentioned earlier that bacteria were able to alter each other to become penecillan-resistant before, that particular experiment involved using gonorrhea bacterium...

[edit on 3-11-2006 by MidnightDStroyer]

MidnightDStroyer, do you work with viruses? Where do you get your information?