Bacteria and viruses are common in nature . Although both share some similar characteristics, the truth is that they have notable differences between them. One of the issues in which both organisms are most similar is in their ability to cause diseases for the human or animal species.
What differentiates bacteria from viruses?
If we talk about viruses, we must understand that the very nature of the word already means ‘poison’ or toxin . It comes from a Latin origin and it is a biological entity that is capable of self-replication when it comes into contact with the cellular machine.
In order to replicate its contents and thus infect much more, the virus needs the metabolic machinery of the cell itself that it invades to replicate its genetic material and produce copies of the original virus. The process is quite harmful since it can damage the cell of our body to the point of destroying it.
It is therefore a small intracellular parasite that uses nucleic acid and protein to cause disease. The last recent example we have is that of the coronavirus itself.
For their part, bacteria are unicellular organisms, without nuclei that allow them to appear naked, isolated or in groups. They are capable of living in any habitat, even in space, making them a very abundant organism throughout the planet.
They exist of several types: elongated, spherical or spiral, and they are associated in groups that are usually called diplococci . In an original state, bacteria, unlike viruses, are beneficial to nature and the human body itself, but many can change and be very harmful to health.
For example, bacteria are the cause of diseases such as salmonellosis, cholera or brucellosis.
Therefore, one of the notable differences that bacteria and viruses have is their size and anatomy. Bacteria are larger, up to 100 times larger, and have a real cell wall as well as internal structure, something that a virus will never have.
These have a simple structure that generally consists of a genome.
On the other hand, viruses are not capable of multiplying by themselves , so they need other cells that they attack to do so. Unlike viruses, bacteria do have the ability to multiply thanks to cell division, just as human cells multiply in our body.
