Aratus is said to have asked him how he could obtain a trustworthy text of Homer, to which he replied, “You can, if you get hold of the ancient copies, and not the corrected copies of our day.”
IX 111-113 Timon
Diogenes Laertius
Virus: A non-binary Form
All living cells have DNA and RNA. A virus can only have one or the other. Bacteriophage or phage is a virus that attacks bacteria and has a DNA strand within its capsid. When this DNA strand is injected into the host, viral components are assembled, the host cell lyses and the virions are released to start a new cycle. This is the Lytic cycle. The other is called the Lysogenic cycle. In this case, the phage DNA merges with the bacterial DNA to form a prophage, and there are three consequences.
- The host is immune to re-infection.
- Certain organisms can only produce deadly toxins when they carry a lysogenic phage. For example: diphtheria, scarlet fever, botulism, cholera.
- Specialized transduction, where genetic particles of other bacteria are packaged within the capsid.
The most famous RNA virus is HIV (AIDS). The RNA strand is injected along with a reverse transrciptase which converts the RNA to DNA. This viral DNA is transported to the cell nucleous where it is integrated into the chromosome as a provirus, analogous to prophage. This rougue segment of DNA can remain dormant, produce more virus which buds or moves by cell fusion to another cell.
Ape Town 