Superbugs That Resist Antibiotics Can Evolve in 11 Days | I Contain Multitudes 

I came from school but still gave a like

Great question! As Ed notes, viruses are totally different from bacteria, and they're NOT affected by antibiotics - so not only is their biology different, but we have to treat them differently in medicine, as well. For more information, the Wikipedia page on viruses (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus) is really thorough, but let me take a run at the most important points: Viruses are very simple lifeforms - so simple that some scientists argue they aren't truly "alive" at all (*see footnote)! Let's take the position that they ARE alive - then you can think of viruses as one of the broad "domains" of life, like bacteria or eukaryotes (that's the big group that WE fall into). Viruses are parasites that reproduce inside the cells of other organisms. The basic virus body (there are MANY varieties) is a small amount of genetic material (e.g. DNA) wrapped up in a protein coat. They're very small - on average, they're ~0.1% the size of a human cell, but they're sinister. If a virus contacts a cell it can infect, it attaches to the cell's exterior, and finds a way inside. Once inside, they shed their coats, and they use the cell's own machinery to replicate! Normally, your cells are busy replicating your own DNA, but the viruses "hijack" those mechanisms and use them to make copies of their own DNA. Eventually, they burst out of the cell (killing it) and run off in search of new host cells to infect! If enough cells are killed this way, the host will get sick, and may die. Viruses infect every type of organism, and because of their rapid life-cycle, they evolve extremely quickly - so quickly that immune systems often have trouble dealing with them. As parasites, viruses do well when their hosts are available in high densities, so they're very important for keeping balance in the ecosystem. A few years ago, researchers found that viruses prevented dangerous algal "blooms" from overpopulating the upper layer of the ocean by killing the blooming algae in huge numbers. By keeping the dominant species in check, viruses preserve biodiversity. We also use them to our advantage in some cases. When viruses infect bacteria, they're called "bacteriophages" - these are often used in biotechnology to help genetically modify bacteria in the lab (the details on that are too long to include here, but pretty cool). Hopefully this helps give you some more information on them, and inspires you to go look up some more details! *Footnote: This isn't uncommon. Another, even simpler, disease-causing "not-quite-a-life-form" is called the "prion" - basically, proteins that go rogue, and cause syndromes like Mad Cow Disease. They spread by consuming infected tissue, which means populations engaging in cannibalism are at risk. Because cattle are fed the remains of other cattle, Mad Cow is a real danger. A famous prion disease in humans is called "kuru", or "laughing sickness", which was documented in New Guinea in the 1950's, prompting the government to outlaw the cannibalistic rituals of local tribes.

Keegan Smith Thank you for the information! That was bugging me for quite a while and since you put SO much effort into that I will thank you again. Thanks!

Saaaaame

Natural selection would not favor you.