roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (11/10/88)
spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) writes: > (Note -- it's a worm, not a virus, since it can replicate itself and > does not hide itself inside other code.) Several people have mentioned that it's a worm and not a virus. I tried to explain this to my wife (who is a molecular biologist who works with biolgical viruses) and she didn't like the term worm. She says that the distinction of not hiding inside other code is better described by calling them lytic viruses and lysogenic viruses instead of worms and viruses. Anybody for electronic transposons? -- Roy Smith, System Administrator Public Health Research Institute {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net "The connector is the network"
kenm@maccs.McMaster.CA (...Jose) (11/12/88)
In article <3595@phri.UUCP> roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes: >spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) writes: >> (Note -- it's a worm, not a virus, since it can replicate itself and >> does not hide itself inside other code.) > Several people have mentioned that it's a worm and not a virus. I >tried to explain this to my wife (who is a molecular biologist who works >with biolgical viruses) and she didn't like the term worm. She says that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Actually, IT IS very much like a parastic worm, which invades a biological system, and uses the host as a domain for its own reproduction and activity. It can then travel from system to system (ie. person to person through certain types of contact). It doesn't actually change the genetics of a person (ie. does not attatch itself to the code), but can harm the system by interupting normal processes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fighting for Truth, Kenneth C. Moyle Justice, and Department of Biochemistry anything else that McMaster University - Hamilton, Ontario seems fun at the time" kenm@maccs -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
sam@murdu.OZ (Sam Ganesan) (12/01/88)
Hi Folks,
I was glancing through my collection of scientific funnies when I found
this and thought I would share it with the sci.bio community. I liked it
when I read it. I hope you do too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE VIRUS
---------
Observe this virus: think how small
Its arsenal, and yet how loud its call;
It took my cell, now takes your cell,
And when it leaves will take our genes as well.
Genes that are master keys to growth
That turn it on, or turn it off, or both;
Should it return to me or you
It will own the skeleton keys to do
A number on our tumblers; stage a coup.
But would you kill the us in it,
The sequence that it carries, bit by bit?
The virus was the first to live,
Or lean in that direction; now we give
Attention to its way with locks,
And how its tickings influence our clocks:
Its gears fit in our clockworking,
Its habits of expression have a ring
That makes our carburetors start to ping.
This happens when cells start to choke
As red celss must in monoxidic smoke,
where membranes get the guest list wrong
And single-file becomes a teeming throng,
And growth exists for its own sake:
Then soon enough the healthy genes must break;
If we permit this with our cells,
With molecules abet the changing bells:
Lend our peculiar tone to our death knells.
-Michael Newman
Michael Newman is associated with the Warm Spring Harbour Laboratory for
Qualitative biology in New York.
Lifted from Focus without permission from either Focus or the Author.
Sam Ganesan.
*******************************************************************************
E - mail :
ACSnet: sam@murdu.mu.oz JANET: sam%murdu.mu.oz@uk.ac.ukc
ARPA : sam%murdu.mu.oz.au@uunet.uu.net sam%murdu.mu.oz@uk.ac.ean-relay
UUCP : {uunet,pyramid,mcvax,nttlab,ukc}!munnari!murdu.mu.oz.au!sam
Snail : Sam Ganesan, Microbiology Dept,Melbourne University, Parkville,
Victoria 3052, Australia.
******************************************************************************dd@beta.lanl.gov (Dan Davison) (12/03/88)
In Article <1491@murdu.Oz>, Sam@murdu.Oz (Sam Ganesan) Writes: > Hi Folks, Hi Sam! > The Virus Was The First To Live, > Or Lean In That Direction; Now We Give > Lend Our Peculiar Tone To Our Death Knells. > -Michael Newman > Michael Newman Is Associated With The Warm Spring Harbour Laboratory For > Qualitative Biology In New York. > > Sam Ganesan. His work frequently appears in The Sciences, published by The New York Academy of Sciences bimonthly or so. If you haven't read it, take a look--it's the most literate and thoughtful non-journal- type periodical around. Fascist Inews Fodder -- dan davison/theoretical biology/t-10 ms k710/los alamos national laboratory los alamos, nm 875545/dd@lanl.gov (arpa)/dd@lanl.uucp(new)/..cmcl2!lanl!dd The NRA: defending *your* right to shoot small schoolchildren
dd@beta.lanl.gov (Dan Davison) (12/03/88)
In Article <1491@murdu.Oz>, Sam@murdu.Oz (Sam Ganesan) Writes: > The Virus Was The First To Live, > Or Lean In That Direction; Now We Give > Lend Our Peculiar Tone To Our Death Knells. > -Michael Newman What I forgot to mention is that it is unbelievely unlikely that viruses came first; are there any which are not obligate parasites? -- dan davison/theoretical biology/t-10 ms k710/los alamos national laboratory los alamos, nm 875545/dd@lanl.gov (arpa)/dd@lanl.uucp(new)/..cmcl2!lanl!dd 'The true mark of intelligence is an unwillingness to fill in the many gaps in our understanding with a set of irrational beliefs'(Keats,paraphrased)
chiaravi@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Lucius Chiaraviglio) (12/04/88)
In article <22884@beta.lanl.gov> dd@beta.lanl.gov (Dan Davison) writes: |In Article <1491@murdu.Oz>, Sam@murdu.Oz (Sam Ganesan) Writes: |> The Virus Was The First To Live, |> Or Lean In That Direction; Now We Give |> Lend Our Peculiar Tone To Our Death Knells. |> -Michael Newman | |What I forgot to mention is that it is unbelievely unlikely that |viruses came first; are there any which are not obligate |parasites? By definition, viruses are obligate parasites, so they cannot live until they have some life form to live on. The only way to get around this would be to have someone create the equivalent of a concentrated cell extract to grow the virus in (aaacckkphhh!) without using cells to create it and without themselves being alive. -- | Lucius Chiaraviglio | ARPA: chiaravi@silver.bacs.indiana.edu BITNET: chiaravi@IUBACS.BITNET (IUBACS hoses From: fields; INCLUDE RET ADDR) ARPA-gatewayed BITNET: chiaravi%IUBACS.BITNET@vm.cc.purdue.edu Alt ARPA-gatewayed BITNET: chiaravi%IUBACS.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu