Without its host, virus is simple structure of protein and genetic material. Protien and genetic material can be affordable, so why we cant synthesize viruses in laboratory? Or it is being made beyond my imagination?
Yes. by using plasmids you can produce viruses. For example, you can produce retroviruses in vitro that can insert your desired gene into cells.
Hi Poonan,
what Mohammad described is called "reverse genetics" by virologists. It is short cut to produce a virus; instead of the virus infecting a cell you transfect (=introduce by chemical treatment) the viral genome into the cell. then the cell will make the viral proteins and the viral genome and both will be assembled into the cell in a new virus that will infect another cell and ... so on. This is possible with a lot of different virus (polio, rota, reo, rabies, influenza....). But making a virus in vitro (in a test tube) from proteins and nucleic acid (RNA or DNA) is not an easy task. Even if viruses are "simple" organismes they are complex to assemble. If my memory is good the only infectious virus that can be reconstitute in vitro from purified viral protein and purified viral RNA is the TMV (tabacco mosaic virus). Probably because it is an helical virus made of ony one RNA and one small viral protein .
Didier Poncet sir thanks a lot for detail information about designer viruses. As I know designed viruses work for the target for which they are created. Sir these artificially designed viruses would be metabolically and functionally active like naturally occurred one?
I am not sure to understand your question... With reverse genetics you only jump the first step of infection (ie entry); then the viral life cycle resume and all the properties of the virus are concerved (unless you have introduced a mutation in the viral genome) ...with reverse genetics you can introduce at will mutation in the virus' genome. but if the mutation is detrimental for the virus then it will not grow.
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