If heat-killed cells of a harmful strain virus somehow transform the DNA of living cells of a non-harnful virus, then wouldn't every virus thats been heat killed be dangerous to us?
2006-12-14 06:04:45 · 2 answers · asked by madeulo0k 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
OK, I made a mistake, its bacteria, not viruses, so wont all harmful strains of bacteria be bad for us?
2006-12-14 06:15:47 · update #1
You're confusing apples and viruses. The experiments with transformation of heat killed organisms was done with bacteria, not with viruses. Experimentally, you can show that living, harmless strains of bacteria can occasionally take up DNA from their environment (In the experiments by Avery and others, heat-killed bacteria provided that DNA.) and incorporate it into their genetic material, thus "transforming" them.
Viruses are different altogether. First, they aren't really alive, but even if you ignore that, they don't have the ability to take up DNA and do anything with it. So, no, heat-killed viruses aren't inherently dangerous to us.
2006-12-14 06:10:05 · answer #1 · answered by hcbiochem 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no....they are killed and their DNA is destroyed by the heat
2006-12-14 14:09:14 · answer #2 · answered by hamid 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋