• Question: whats the diffrents between a bacteria and a virus

    Asked by nicholas2959 to Sarah, Claire on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sarah Harris

      Sarah Harris answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      Here’s a handy (and relatively short!) guide to telling the difference between bacteria and viruses:

      1. Viruses are much much smaller than bacteria

      2.Bacteria are living cells (unicellular) whereas viruses are basically DNA in a protein coat

      3. Bacteria reproduce by replicating themselves. Viruses hack the machinery in other cells to reproduce (and eventually kill that cell. Lovely)

      4. Bacteria can be helpful – in the gut some types aid with digestion. Bacteria that is not so helpful can be killed by antibiotics whereas viruses are not at all helpful and can’t be killed with antibiotics. In fact it’s very hard to kill viruses.

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