1 I'm a Virus

I'm a Virus!

Hi there! I'm Virus! No, not her. That's my hostess with the mostest. She has the sniffles. Whee! Off to a new host. I am not alone. Each virus particle is called a virion. Lots of us fly in droplets of snot to...

your nose! Zoom in. Closer. That's a nose hair. That's a booger. nose hair booger Closer. Closer. You have trillions of cells. They are so small they can only be seen under a microscope. But together, they make up your body, from your blood to your bones and even the inside of your nose! me cells

This is Cell. And this is its friend Snot Cell. Snot Cell makes— you guessed it-snot! Cell pumps that snot away with hairlike things called cilia. me SNOT CELL CELL cilia nuclei *The parts of cells that tell cells what to do—like make more of me! Shhhh... don't tell Cell, but I am here to attack it. I am a rhinovirus. Rhino means "nose." I invade nose cells to cause the common cold.

I'm pretty simple, really—a strand of RNA surrounded by a spiky protein shell. My spikes fit perfectly onto Cell's surface. You might say we are a perfect match—like a key in a lock. Cell opens up and lets me in. virus receptor click Then I shrug off my spiky jacket so RNA can do its job. Off it goes to deliver its chemical code message to Cell: Make more of me. Lots more! RNA

Uh-oh! It's getting crowded in here. Pop! Er, sorry about that, Cell. Now even more of us can... ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!