Talk:Virus

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This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Virus is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on October 5, 2009.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 20, 2006	Peer review	Reviewed
July 14, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
October 19, 2006	Good article nominee	Listed
November 4, 2007	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
February 6, 2008	Good article reassessment	Kept
September 23, 2008	Featured article candidate	Promoted
Current status: Featured article

Viruses Top‑importance

	Viruses portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Viruses, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of viruses on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.VirusesWikipedia:WikiProject VirusesTemplate:WikiProject Virusesvirus articles
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Molecular Biology: MCB Top‑importance

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	This article is supported by the Molecular and Cell Biology task force (assessed as Top-importance).

Biology Top‑importance

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Medicine High‑importance

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Tree of Life Top‑importance

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Section sizes

Section size for Virus (44 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	8,005	8,005
Etymology	3,235	3,235
Origins	7,630	7,630
Microbiology	19	49,267
Discovery	1,328	1,328
Life properties	3,992	3,992
Structure	10,499	13,705
Giant viruses	3,206	3,206
Genome	4,960	7,577
Genome size	2,617	2,617
Genetic mutation and recombination	5,609	5,609
Replication cycle	7,069	7,069
Genome replication	3,065	3,065
Cytopathic effects on the host cell	2,213	2,213
Dormant and latent infections	1,294	1,294
Host range	2,452	2,452
Novel viruses	944	944
Classification	3,285	8,274
ICTV classification	2,309	2,309
Baltimore classification	2,680	2,680
Role in human disease	5,930	43,137
Epidemiology	5,484	5,484
Epidemics and pandemics	10,043	10,043
Cancer	5,037	5,037
Host defence mechanisms	7,874	7,874
Prevention and treatment	400	8,769
Vaccines	4,623	4,623
Antiviral drugs	3,746	3,746
Infection in other species	399	14,986
Animal viruses	1,803	1,803
Plant viruses	4,467	4,467
Bacterial viruses	5,497	5,497
Archaeal viruses	2,820	2,820
Role in aquatic ecosystems	8,074	8,074
Role in evolution	1,832	1,832
Applications	20	11,739
Life sciences and medicine	2,925	5,121
Virotherapy	2,196	2,196
Materials science and nanotechnology	2,865	2,865
Synthetic viruses	2,016	2,016
Weapons	1,717	1,717
See also	354	354
References	1,000	1,000
External links	715	715
Total	158,248	158,248

Mention of viruses as obligate parasites?

Just read a paper on the topic, and wondered if it would fit here. I try not to make content changes on larger pages without consulting the talk page first. FullyNatural (talk) 20:07, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is pretty much covered in the first sentence. Viruses aren't traditionally thought of as parasites as they are dependent on the host (cell) for much more than just nutrients. What was the paper? Graham Beards (talk) 10:14, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Here's the DOI link: https://doi.org/10.1016%2FB978-012373944-5.00323-0

You're right in saying viruses aren't typically thought of as viruses. FullyNatural (talk) 13:35, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That might be the stupidest thing I've ever written. Of course I mean "parasites" not "viruses"... FullyNatural (talk) 13:41, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That 2009 article looks like it was based on an earlier version of our article [1] and is not a good source. I don't think it would help our readers to add "obligate intracellular parasites" - it confuses more than it informs. Graham Beards (talk) 13:48, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Fair point, thanks for the insight! FullyNatural (talk) 19:09, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion: add history of virology to the article

Is there a good reason why History of virology doesn't appear here? Vonfraginoff (talk) 15:07, 7 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Good point. It used to be part of this article but it was too long and given it's own article. I'll write a summary and leave a {{main|History of virology}}. Graham Beards (talk) 06:47, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Looks great, many thanks! Vonfraginoff (talk) 03:49, 1 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Recent edits

I have removed two recent edits. The first one, on the bubble theory, was cited to a single source that presents a hypothesis that has not yet been accepted by the scientific community and as such is a primary source. The second on life properties of viruses, added a little to what has already been said, and what on earth is a "mare spore"? The added text also suffered from padding, editorializing and below par prose. Graham Beards (talk) 11:00, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Replace illustration

I have replaced this illustration File:Influenza geneticshift.svg Reason:

It is an inaccurate reproduction of the source ^[1]. The two "parents" are correctly labeled, but in the original the progeny is not given a description whereas the Wikimedia reproduction labels the progeny as "highly pathogenic human strain". Accompanying text in the original explains that a human strain may acquire characteristics from a highly pathogenic avian strain, but makes no assumption about the characteristics of the progeny.

Bob (talk) 17:07, 17 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The original diagram dates from 2007 and it was not taken from the 2014 source! The cartoon was just a schematic used to illustrate reassortment. I think you should retract your comments here and at the Commons, but the new image you have added can stay IMHO. Graham Beards (talk) 17:58, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Yoo E (February 2014). "Conformation and Linkage Studies of Specific Oligosaccharides Related to H1N1, H5N1, and Human Flu for Developing the Second Tamiflu". Biomolecules & Therapeutics. 22 (2): 93–99. doi:10.4062/biomolther.2014.005. PMC 3975476. PMID 24753813.

Semi-protected edit request on 4 October 2024

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Recent work identified metabolic interference in the innate defense against viruses. Human hepatocytes were found to activate both PPARA and FXR nuclear receptors, hindering HCV replication and assembly, as a metabolic defense mechanism to limit viral growth. ^[1] Yaakov Nahmias (talk) 20:53, 4 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Also seems way too focused for this article Cannolis (talk) 00:51, 5 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Virus

Show the diagrams of poliomyelitis virus, tobacco mosaic virus, bacteriophage 102.91.4.29 (talk) 18:10, 9 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Commons: poliomyelitis virus, tobacco mosaic virus, bacteriophage T4. --Petr Karel (talk) 07:25, 10 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

^ Levy, Gahl; Habib, Naomi; Guzzardi, Maria Angela; Kitsberg, Daniel; Bomze, David; Ezra, Elishai; Uygun, Basak E.; Uygun, Korkut; Trippler, Martin; Schlaak, Joerg F.; Shibolet, Oren; Sklan, Ella H.; Cohen, Merav; Timm, Joerg; Friedman, Nir; Nahmias, Yaakov (2016). "Nuclear receptors control pro-viral and antiviral metabolic responses to hepatitis C virus infection". Nature Chemical Biology. Nature Publishing Group. doi:10.1038/NCHEMBIO.2193.

[:1-1] Yoo E (February 2014). "Conformation and Linkage Studies of Specific Oligosaccharides Related to H1N1, H5N1, and Human Flu for Developing the Second Tamiflu". Biomolecules & Therapeutics. 22 (2): 93–99. doi:10.4062/biomolther.2014.005. PMC 3975476. PMID 24753813.

[2] Levy, Gahl; Habib, Naomi; Guzzardi, Maria Angela; Kitsberg, Daniel; Bomze, David; Ezra, Elishai; Uygun, Basak E.; Uygun, Korkut; Trippler, Martin; Schlaak, Joerg F.; Shibolet, Oren; Sklan, Ella H.; Cohen, Merav; Timm, Joerg; Friedman, Nir; Nahmias, Yaakov (2016). "Nuclear receptors control pro-viral and antiviral metabolic responses to hepatitis C virus infection". Nature Chemical Biology. Nature Publishing Group. doi:10.1038/NCHEMBIO.2193.

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