4 ms·

fascinating story.. kind of a blemish that the article contains an error: a virus which can't get into cells is just a scrap of amino acids waiting to be destr

fascinating story.. kind of a blemish that the article contains an error: a virus which can't get into cells is just a scrap of amino acids waiting to be destroyed. To the best of my knowledge, viruses do have DNA, if very little. That is in fact the reason they need to enter the host's cells - they need access to the DNA reproduction machinery inside to make copies of themselves.

sp332 17y ago
edit: this is wrong. See timr's comment below. DNA is made of amino acids. If the DNA can't get into a cell, it's useless as DNA and is only good for digestion into amino acid building blocks for some other protein.
- timr 17y ago
  "DNA is made of amino acids. If the DNA can't get into a cell, it's useless as DNA and is only good for digestion into amino acid building blocks for some other protein." No, just totally, absolutely 100% wrong. If you voted this comment up, please smack yourself for voting up things that merely sound authoritative. Thank you. Proteins are made of amino acids. DNA is made of deoxyribonucleotides. They're nothing alike. Proteins are translated from the information in RNA, which is a minor variation of the information in DNA. Think of proteins as molecular machines that are made from the instructions in DNA, and you're closer to the truth.
  - mbreese 17y ago
    The funny part is that when I first read this comment, the wrong post (GP) had -1 points. Now it's +1. That's two people smacking themselves. Congratulations. On a side note: this brings up a great XKCD quote: "Someone is wrong on the Internet". (http://xkcd.com/386/ http://xkcd.com/386/)
  - yu 17y ago
    Even having read a few popular science books a few years ago (50-year DNA anniversary), it's been too many years since AP Biology. Could you/ others please recommend a few titles (articles, books, titles), at the AP Biology level, on (a) proteins and RNA, (b) genes and DNA ? Thanks in advance!
Agathos 17y ago
HIV, a retrovirus, contains RNA, not DNA.

sp332 17y ago

edit: this is wrong. See timr's comment below. DNA is made of amino acids. If the DNA can't get into a cell, it's useless as DNA and is only good for digestion into amino acid building blocks for some other protein.

timr 17y ago
"DNA is made of amino acids. If the DNA can't get into a cell, it's useless as DNA and is only good for digestion into amino acid building blocks for some other protein." No, just totally, absolutely 100% wrong. If you voted this comment up, please smack yourself for voting up things that merely sound authoritative. Thank you. Proteins are made of amino acids. DNA is made of deoxyribonucleotides. They're nothing alike. Proteins are translated from the information in RNA, which is a minor variation of the information in DNA. Think of proteins as molecular machines that are made from the instructions in DNA, and you're closer to the truth.
- mbreese 17y ago
  The funny part is that when I first read this comment, the wrong post (GP) had -1 points. Now it's +1. That's two people smacking themselves. Congratulations. On a side note: this brings up a great XKCD quote: "Someone is wrong on the Internet". (http://xkcd.com/386/ http://xkcd.com/386/)
- yu 17y ago
  Even having read a few popular science books a few years ago (50-year DNA anniversary), it's been too many years since AP Biology. Could you/ others please recommend a few titles (articles, books, titles), at the AP Biology level, on (a) proteins and RNA, (b) genes and DNA ? Thanks in advance!

Agathos 17y ago

HIV, a retrovirus, contains RNA, not DNA.