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STUDENT'S MAGAZINE \

THE NATURE

OF THE VIRUS

PREEYAKORN BANGMO (#10 - BEAUTY 5/340)
KORANIT TANGSRIPAIROJE (#1 - JUDD 5/350)

Annoyance, loathing, hatred, every bitterness one could put into
words during the quarantine is directed toward the COVID-19 pan-
demic. What are viruses? How dare they stop our jovial vacation?
Why do such horrible things exist? We have had too much time on
our hands lately, so we decided to research and reflect on these ques-
tions.

Mother Nature is known to balance things out when things get out
of hand. When there are too many predators, prey have to reproduce
more to outnumber their nemesis. When there are too many prey,
carnivores and omnivores see this as a great buffet, and the cycle con-
tinues. The underlying mechanism of nature keeps things balanced,
and one of nature’s methods is by using viruses.

A virus is the smallest microbe, a protein envelope called a capsid
that contains DNA or RNA. Different types come in assorted shapes
unique to the specific type. For example, the Ebola virus is in a string
structure; the Coronavirus is a sphere with stubbles all around it, as
the name corona, meaning “crown” in Latin. Viruses penetrate into
other living organisms’ cells by using the cell’s mechanism to replicate
the genetic code. After the process is completed, the army of viruses

leaves the cell by budding (moving against the cell membrane to use it as an envelope which eventually leads to the death
of the cell), or lysis (bursting out).

Albeit the simplicity of viruses, they are deadly, living only to produce more of themselves, and infectious to other organ-
isms around the host. The ways viruses can spread are via direct, indirect contact, food, air, water, and waste materials.
Moreover, nature provides viruses with a talent, which is mutation (changes in DNA or RNA). Virus mutation happens
when accidents are made while copying genetic materials of the virus.

Repeated mutations in genes that are responsible for virus-surface proteins can cause viruses to infect the host again,
although the body had fought them before. Imagine a criminal mastermind that every police can recognize. If he changes
clothes, the police can still acknowledge him. However, if he also has plastic surgery, the police may not recall and he can
commit crimes again. Until the police remember him again, the cycle will repeat itself.

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