Bacterial vs. Viral Infections
Remember Bacteria Boy? Well, today his close friend is making Mr. Teddy here sick. Except this isn’t another bacteria; it’s a virus. What even is the difference between bacteria and viruses? Well, to understand that, we’ll have to dive in to the exciting world of biodiversity, and see why exactly viruses aren’t classified as bacteria.
What are bacteria? They are tiny microorganisms that try to survive by eating other host cells. Certain bacteria are good, though. ‘Good’ as in they provide a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with us humans. Some types of these bacteria are helped by being in a safe shelter, also known as your intestines, and are provided tons of delicious food, also know as the gross partially digested food passing out of the stomach. We are helped because the bacteria are unkowingly digesting our food.
But other bacteria are ‘bad,’ as in they provide a parasitic symbiotic relationship with us. They feed on the host cells we don’t want them to feed on: our cells. But when these pathogenic bacteria enter our bodies, we have a built in defense system called the immune system that helps fight them off! So that wraps up bacteria. On to the viruses!
Viruses come straight of sci-fi movies; they bridge the gap between life and death. Scientists aren’t sure if viruses are living or dead — they just know that they are always bad news for us. Viruses don’t just feed on host cells, they explode them! Viruses seep into cells via their pesky little spike proteins, and after that they cause mayhem and havoc inside your body. Injecting their DNA or mRNA into your cells, these viruses make your cells confused. When their mRNA is injected into your ribosomes, your ribosomes start creating polypeptide chains that code for more viruses! These viruses then start brimming to the top of the cell, and, well…
KA-BLOOEY!
And the cycle starts all over again.
So what’s the difference between bacteria & viruses? Well, let’s review some points in a Venn Diagram.
So that’s all for this post. Follow me if you enjoyed it, and I’ll see you next time!
