Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Unit 4 Student Handout

Viruses and
Vaccines

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Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Unit 4 Student Handout

Unit 4~ Lesson 1
Viruses

Background
What are viruses?

Viruses are tiny bundles of genetic material like DNA, carried in a viral shell called a
capsid which is made up of proteins. Viruses are parasites, meaning they need a host
like a plant or animal cell in order to live. This makes them strange little creatures,
without a host the virus is inert, floating around about as alive as a brick wall. Once
the virus comes into contact with a host cell, they will spring into action. They will
infect and take over the cell like pirates attacking a ship. Viruses cannot metabolise
nutrients, move around on their own, produce or excrete waste or even reproduce
unless they are inside another organisms cells. Viruses have been the culprits of many
human diseases like flu, HIV/AIDS, certain types of cancer and the common cold. We
will be looking in more detail at AIDS and cancer in subsequent units.

What happens when viruses come in contact with host cells?

When a virus comes into contact with a host, it will insert itself into the cell and
literally take over. The virus will change how the cell functions to carry out the
functions that they desire themselves. Once they infect a cell, they burst out killing the
cell and move on to infect the surrounding cells, killing them too. The virus’s sole
purpose is to reproduce many copies of itself. The diagram below depicts the structure
of a virus.

One type of virus structure consists of:

 A head~ which contains genetic material such

as DNA.
 A tail~ allows the virus to bind themselves to
the surface of the host before they inject
themselves into it. The tail can also be
described as an “anchor” for the virus.
 The tail fibres~ also help in attachment of the
virus to the host cell.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/alllife/virus.gif

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Viruses can affect both plants and animals and also bacteria. Below is a table
which shows a list of viruses, the species they affect and the infection they cause.

Virus Species Affected Infection

Human Humans Acquired Immune

Immunodeficiency Virus Deficiency Syndrome
(HIV) (AIDS)

Paramyxovirus Humans (Children) Pnuemonia

Measles
Mumps

Flavivirus Humans Yellow Fever

Rhabdovirus Dogs Rabies

Rodents Tetanus
Humans Lock jaw

Tobacco Mosaic Virus Tobacco plants Tobacco Mosaic

Human T Cell Humans Adult T Cell Leukaemia

Leukaemia Virus (A form of cancer)
(HTLV)

Orthomyxovirus Humans Influenza

Animals

Herpes Simplex Virus Humans Coldsores

Questions

Why are viruses known as parasites? Why do they need a host in order to
survive?

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Why do you think viral infections are harder to treat in comparison with
bacterial infections?

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Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Unit 4 Student Handout

Task Time
Getting to know Viruses

Read through the following segments containing information on four different viruses.
Try to figure out which virus is being discussed and who it affects.

Virus 1 Virus 2

 It lies dormant in clusters of  It is known as a retrovirus.

tissue until triggered by  Infection occurs by the
sunlight, fever, physical or transfer of bodily fluids.
emotional stress.  Side effects may not be
 It attacks the skin and apparent for many years.
produces small, irritating and  I weaken the immune system
sometimes painful fluid- of sufferers.
filled blisters.  More than 25 million people
 The blisters and ulcers of are have died from this infection
filled with virus and are since it was first recognised
highly contagious until they in December 1981.
heal.


Virus 3 Virus 4

 It affects the skin and mucous  This is a highly contagious and

membranes of humans. sometimes fatal disease of
cattle and pigs.
 There are over 100 different  Humans are very rarely affected
types of this virus. by this disease.
 It causes small, rough  A serious outbreak of the virus
tumours, typically on hands in 2001 in Britain led to
and feet, that can resemble a thousands of cattle being
cauliflower or a solid blister. slaughtered and the cancellation
 Over 50% of people will be of many sporting events and
affected by this virus at one leisure activities.
stage in their life.

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Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Unit 4 Student Handout

Answer Sheet

Virus 1

Virus 2

Virus 3

Virus 4

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Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Unit 4 Student Handout

Unit 4~ Lesson 2
Vaccines

Background
What are vaccines?

Vaccines are medications that are used to stimulate our body’s immune system to
generate a response that will protect us from disease. The first vaccination was carried
out by Edward Jenner almost 200 years ago. He noticed that dairy maids who had had
cowpox infection did not succumb to the deadly smallpox infection that was rampant
at the time. To test his theory, he infected a young boy with cowpox and a couple of
weeks later with smallpox. The boy survived and therefore was protected from the
infection.

So how does vaccination work?

When pathogens like bacteria and viruses enter our body they are recognised by our
immune system as foreign an immune response will be generated to try and eradicate
the infection. Antibodies are proteins that are found in our bodies that target
pathogens and try to neutralise them so that they cannot cause any harm. The antibody
will bind to a region on the surface of the pathogen, known as an antigen. The
antibody will remember the antigen it targeted and the memory is stored in our
immune systems for any subsequent attack. This is the basis of how vaccination
works. Vaccines can consist of the following:

 Live, but weakened forms of the pathogen/virus

 Killed or inactivated forms of the pathogen/virus
 Purified forms such as proteins

How will vaccines protect us from future illnesses?

Vaccines are safe because the viruses used in vaccines have been severely altered in
laboratories by one or several methods. Scientists do this in several ways. Take for
example the measles and mumps vaccine. Scientists weaken the virus’s ability to
reproduce itself. Normally these viruses cause illness by reproducing themselves
thousands of times in the body. The virus used in a vaccine may reproduce itself 20
times or less. This is enough to allow our immune response to generate an attack
against the virus without catching the infection. The antibodies that are produced from
this attack are stored and will help protect against any future attacks of the virus.
Another strategy is to deactivate a virus by killing it with a chemical. Now the virus
cannot reproduce at all, yet the presence of the dead virus in the body still generates a
response by producing antibodies.

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Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Unit 4 Student Handout

Task Time
Measles Mumps and Rubella Vaccination

You are a reporter working for a national newspaper. Your job is to research the
MMR vaccination in Ireland and write an article on it. Find out as much information
as you can about the vaccination i.e. why it is so important to be vaccinated against
these infectious diseases.

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