What is a virus and how does it make people sick?
Tiny Troublemaker's Tour
What is a virus and how does it make people sick?
Imagine the tiniest troublemaker in the universe — so small that millions could ride on a single grain of dust. It isn't quite alive, but it isn't quite dead either. It's a virus, and it has exactly one item on its to-do list: make more of itself.
Here's the strange thing. A virus is basically a tiny instruction manual wrapped in a protective coat. Inside is a scrap of genetic code — the recipe for building copies. Outside is a shell that protects the recipe on its journey. That's it. No mouth, no stomach, no way to move on its own.
