Question

In this section, you were introduced to different types of viruses and viral diseases. Briefly discuss the most interesting or surprising thing you learned about viruses.

Short answer

Viruses are inanimate complex organic matter, not living organisms. They are devoid of all forms of energy and carbon metabolism, and they are unable to reproduce or evolve. Viruses can only replicate and evolve within cells.

Step-by-step solution

Content Introduction

$1030$There are one million virus particles per millilitre of seawater, totaling $10$ virions worldwide! They would stretch $200$ million light years into space if they were lined up end to end.

Content Explanation

The most surprising and interesting facts about virus are:

Viruses' genetic information can be DNA or RNA, single or double stranded, in a single molecule or in fragments.

Virus in Latin means slimy liquid or poison.

The first yellow fever virus, generally termed as human virus was discovered by Walter Reed in 1901.

In 1933, the first human influenza virus was discovered. The 1918 pandemic influenza virus strain was created in 2005 using nucleic acid sequences obtained from disease victims.

Final Answer

Lastly, the interesting fact about virus is

Some parasitic wasps lay their eggs in caterpillars and grow into adult wasps. The wasp eggs contain a virus that prevents the caterpillar from rejecting the eggs because it is encoded in the wasp genome.