• Question: What's the difference between bacteria and virus?

    Asked by shannonlouise123 to James, Marcus, Martin, Rob, Suzanne on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Marcus Gallagher-Jones

      Marcus Gallagher-Jones answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Bacteria are alive. They contain all the components necessary for life, DNA, proteins and a means of replicating these things. They can also reproduce by dividing and creating more bacterial cells.

      Viruses on the other hand are not considered living. Most virus are composed of a protein coat surrounding either DNA or RNA. They contain none of the machinery that bacteria (or our own cells) have for replicating proteins and DNA and so must infect cells and hijck their equipment. This is also the reason they tend to be much smaller and less complex.

      There is one virus that has gained much attention for being a little odd called the Mimivirus. For one it’s huge, about 500nm which is a giant in virus terms. It also contains several genes which are considered essential for life.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimivirus heres some more info.

    • Photo: Robert Thompson

      Robert Thompson answered on 18 Mar 2012:

      Ok definitely not my field but my house mate studies at The School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He says “both contain genetic material but Bacteria can multiply on its own where as a Virus requires another living body, and therefore there is a debate as to weather a virus is living or not.”

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