I see “X virus can move on surfaces or clothes up to X days”. So what happens then?

I can understand harsh chemical destroying them. But what else does them in?

I imagine viruses being complex bits of code that just exists and floats around until they find their way into a cell. Is this an accurate understanding?

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Jason_Peterson t1_ixquik6 wrote on November 25, 2022 at 4:34 PM

Viruses are not big enough to exhibit the complexity of a living organism. They can be compared to individual structures that exist inside a cell. Nevertheless, they can be physically destroyed like all things. You can apply a solvent to make its shell fall apart. Killing means making something stop functioning. You can "kill" a project or a running computer program.

profchipboard t1_ixqv7h2 wrote on November 25, 2022 at 4:39 PM

Viruses are basically little shells with the code inside. They need to be able to inject their code into your cells to reproduce

If you break the shell, then you can get at the code which is fragile an inactivate/kill them. That's how heat, and certain chemicals work i.e. pure alcohol, because they break the structure of the virus

You can also have things that bind to the shell and stop them from being able to get into you cells (that's essentially how antibodies work) so other things (like enzymes) can break then down

pepperdoof t1_ixquqj9 wrote on November 25, 2022 at 4:35 PM

Heat denatured their code. Their lipid layer would just disintegrate when dried. If a cell gets damaged then that same stuff can hurt a virus.

Now for how they act. The virus is in a host and reproduces and then is some way transferred to another host. Like cough/sneeze, or other bodily fluids. They hop around until a new host and that’s how they operate

hopkins-notakpopper t1_ixqve5r wrote on November 25, 2022 at 4:40 PM

They are sequences of DNA so if you can break them Little chains they might change their proprieties.

sonicjesus t1_ixtoc63 wrote on November 26, 2022 at 6:54 AM

They're only alive in the sense that they are made of organic material. It's sort of like a note written on a piece of paper. Just as the technically organic note will degrade in the rain, so too will the virus.

It's essentially a stack of information cells reproduce not knowing it from another.

tdscanuck t1_ixqv0ah wrote on November 25, 2022 at 4:37 PM

Yes, your understanding is correct. They're just free floating bits of DNA or RNA code that eventually bump into a cell and hijack it's machines to copy itself.

Anything that disrupts that code will "kill" it...render it inactive. Harsh chemicals can break the DNA/RNA. UV light can. Too hot or too cold can. Physically crushing them can. DNA/RNA isn't a particularly durable moledule.