THE GLOBAL THREAT OF A

SUPERVIRUS
Ollie George

A rendered 3D image of influenza virus from http://www.bioquellus.com

"The single biggest threat to man's

continued dominance on this planet is
the virus, " Joshua Lederberg.

Joshua Lederberg
Biography :
Born : 23rd of May 1925
Died : 2nd of February 2008
Lederberg was an American
molecular biologist known for his
work on microbial genetics.
Interestingly he also did work on
artificial intelligence and the United
States space program.
He won the Nobel prize in physiology
or medicine in 1958 for his work on
bacterial genetics.

What is a virus and why does it

make you feel ill?
Image taken from University of South Carolina School of medicine.
Microbiology and Immunology online

A virus is a microorganism
smaller than bacterium that cannot
grow or reproduce by itself.
Viruses invade your body
cells and use their "chemical
machinery" to produce many
copies of the virus. Usually the cell
will then burst releasing the new
copies of the virus.
The damaged body cells is
often what gives you the symptoms
and what makes you feel ill.

The image above illustrates the

relative size of a few viruses to the
bacterium staphylococcus aureus. It
shows that even Chlamydia a quite
large virus is much smaller that the
bacterium.

Our body's defence system

Methods to prevent viruses entering our body.
1. Your body has hairs and mucus lining it's airways (the trachea,
bronchus and bronchioles).This helps prevent pathogens
(microorganisms that cause disease) from entering the body as
they become stuck in the mucus and can then be removed from the body.

Hepatitis C virus, showing DNA

enclosed in a protein coat.

2. To prevent pathogens from

entering the body through cuts
in the skin your body has platelets
(small fragments of dead cells) in your
blood which helps to clot the
blood at the site where the skin is cut.
This forms a scab preventing
pathogens entering your body.

Our body's defence system

How your body acts if a pathogen enters the body
If a virus enters your body your immune system
helps to eradicate it. White blood cells (which
travel in the blood) digest or kill any microbes
foreign (invading) microbes in your body. They have
three ways of doing this:
1. Consume the microbes causing the
virus. White blood cells can engulf and digest
foreign microbes.
2. Produce antibodies. Each invading microbe
has unique antigens (molecules) on it's surface.
Your white blood cells can then produce a specific
protein called an antibody which locks onto the
antigens on the surface of a unique microbe.
3. Producing antitoxins. The antitoxins
counteract the toxins produced by the invading
microbe making you feel less ill.

Image from :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/hu
man/defendingagainstinfectionrev3.shtml

This image shows a white

blood cell consuming a
disease-causing bacteria.

The reason for vaccines......

Vaccinations help protect
people from future infections.
When your infected with a new
microorganism, it takes time (often
a few days) for your white blood
cells work out the correct
antitoxins and antibodies to
produce to kill the virus. By this time
the viruses may have have replicated
and you may be very ill.

Image from : http://www.nobel-chest.com/patient-info/pneumococcal-disease/

What do vaccinations contain and why are they necessary ?

A vaccination contains a dead or inactive form of a certain virus. Although harmless the
virus injected still has antigens on its surface and your body still recognises it as foreign.
This means the white blood cells produce the unique antibodies and
antitoxins. Once your body has produced these for the first time it can then produce
lots very quickly in the future, if a living form of the virus enters your body,
helping kill the virus.
Sometimes vaccine boosters are needed, because your immune systems response
weakens over time. For example tetanus injections may need to be repeated every ten
years.

How do viruses enter your body and how are

they passed from one person to another?
The table below shows how pathogens enter the body
and cause infection.
Infection type

How pathogens enter the body

Example

Droplet infection

Droplets inhaled when an infected

person coughs or sneezes

Common cold

Bodily fluids

Bodily fluids such as blood and saliva

can contain the infecting microbes,
transmission of these may lead to
infection

Hepititis

Contaminated food and drink

Taken in through mouth when you

contaminated food (such as raw meat)
or untreated water

Cholera

Through a break in the skin

If you have a cut or scratch in your skin

a pathogen can enter through the break Tetanus
in the skin

What is the threat of a virus ?

Virus can have a range of effects from the minor symptoms of the common cold to AIDS
from which 1.6 million people died in 2012.
Some viruses are highly infectious and spread very easily such as influenza,
potentially making them more of a threat especially if they are particularly harmful.
Some viruses are more deadly than others. Viruses with a high fatality rate and/or
that cause long term or permanent damage to the body can be very dangerous.
In addition viruses which affect; the functioning of vital organs (such as lung and
heart), the mobility or movement of a person or the functioning of the brain or
central nervous system can also be fatal.
It is important to understand that viruses may be more of a threat to certain populations.
For example the elderly may be more at risk as their immune system is weaker.
Furthermore regions where there is poor sanitation can be more at risk
as well, this is because it is harder to prevent the spreading of the disease. For example in
2010 after the earthquake in Haiti, when there was poor sanitation, there was a cholera
outbreak (cholera is a bacterial infection not a virus but both are spread in similar ways).
Viruses that are the greatest threat to man are those with high mortality
rates which are easily spread.

Estimated number of AIDS related

deaths worldwide 1980 - 2000
This graph that I created shows the total number of AIDS related
deaths over time. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS and it is the
worlds leading infectious killer. It is consider as one of the worlds
deadliest diseases and is a pandemic.
4000000
3000000
2000000
1000000
0
1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

A graph to show the extent at which

HIV is the worlds most deadly virus.
This 3D graph shows the estimated death toll
of a few well known viruses.
Estimated death toll

30000000

22500000

15000000

7500000

0
Smallpox

HIV/AIDS

Influenza

Ebola

This graph show

clearly that HIV is
the virus which is
the greatest threat
to the human race.
Smallpox which
was an epidemic in
India in 1974
claimed 15000
lives. This figure is
dwarfed by HIV's
30 million plus
death toll.

Are there any threats other than a

virus?
Although a global pandemic may be danger to the human race there are many other
dangers to condsider.
1. Natural disasters. Super volcanoes and asteroids do pose a threat to humans if
they occur on a large enough scale. An asteroid with spathe strength of a billion atomic
bombs may have caused the extinction of dinosaurs, could the same happen to
humans?
2. Nuclear warfare. With a total of 16,400 nuclear weapons thought to exist
worldwide a nuclear war could trigger the end of the world. Nuclear war would cause
massive death tolls and habitat destruction as well as long term effects on climate,
including reduced sunlight and very cold weather.
3. Ecological disaster. A world crop failure and collapse of ecosystem services are
possible with current world population growth soaring overpopulation, continued
economic development and non sustainable agriculture could pose risks to the human
race.
4. Biotechnology. Just as natural virus and diseases pose a threat increasing
knowledge of biotechnology can be dangerous. Harmful virus and disease can be
engineered leading to devastating effects and potentially wiping out the human race.
This could be accidentally or deliberately ( bioterrorism ).

Is a Virus the Greatest Threat to Mans

Continued Dominance on this Planet ?
In conclusion I do not think that a
natural virus is the greatest
threat to mans continued
dominance on this planet because of
the modern day research and knowledge of
viruses and pathogens is so great that there
is a high chance a vaccine will be able to be
produced. If there was to be a
bioengineered virus as a result of
biowarfare, designed to have high mortality
rates and very infectious then a virus could
be a threat.
Instead I think that a natural
disaster such as a super volcano or giant
asteroid pose the greatest threat as
they cannot be predicted so there is no time
to develop plan of safety, unlike a virus
where there may be time to develop a
vaccine.
An artists impression of a major asteroid
impact from : http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_catastrophic_risks

Sources
CGP GCSE Biology revision guide
Nelson Thornes AS Biology
http://www.bioquellus.com/technology/microbiology/influenza-virus/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/viralinfections.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics
http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/mhunt/intro-vir.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/human/defendingagainstinfectio
nrev2.shtml
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_catastrophic_risks
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/virusbacteria.htm
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Flu/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.who.int/gho/hiv/en/