Learning About Viruses

The Internet is a terrific boon for people wishing to learn more about subjects they deem to be important, and thus it’s hard to imagine how many of us are Googling or YouTubing “viruses” these days. 

The problem I find is getting a presentation at the right level.  In this case, I want to know more than would be taught in high school, but I won’t be able to handle any more than would be offered at the undergraduate level in a biology course on the topic.  What I found here is perfect, and I thought I’d pass it along.

The guy (Sal Kahn of the “Kahn Academy”) starts and ends with something I found particularly interesting, as it’s more about philosophy than science per se.  Is a virus a “life form?” It’s just a collection of molecules that sits there, not metabolizing, growing, reproducing, or dying.  In this way, it’s no more “alive” than a book lying on a desk.  Yet when it comes in contact with a living cell, strange and often terrible things begin to happen.