Viruses

Viruses are a widely diverse group of sub-microbial agents which are active only when parasitizing a living cell plant, bacterium, animal, many more. We have selected medically relevant viruses to describe fundamental concepts within virology beginning with virus structures and their molecular components. These are very important taxonomically but also as later sections describe in the seeking for preventative curative and vaccines antiviral treatments. We review the common stages of the virus replication cycle, highlighting some of the major variations and describe the range of infectious outcomes at the level of the whole organism. We have included a short introduction to less well understood sub-microbial agents like prions which cause neurological diseases in mammals and viroids found within plant systems.